


Into the Open Air- Season 1: Out of the Ashes

by thewriteroflucifenia



Series: Into the Open Air [1]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Childhood, Childhood Friends, Civil War, Coming of Age, Dunmer - Freeform, Family Drama, Family Feels, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fish out of Water, Immigration & Emigration, Nord, Religion, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:27:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 32,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22760950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewriteroflucifenia/pseuds/thewriteroflucifenia
Summary: A nine year old Dunmer girl named Nebula immigrates to Windhelm when her homeland, Morrowind, becomes too dangerous for herself and her father. She is sent ahead of her father to live with her deceased mother's family, the Avanims. The Avanims are a picture perfect immigrant family who have gained more respect from the local Nords than most Dunmer could ever hope to, but to do so have rejected their heritage. Nebula must navigate an alien new land filled with strange people while living with strangers who don't understand her while awaiting her father's arrival. Can she adapt to the harsh conditions of Skyrim, and how much of herself must be sacrificed to do so? And what will she uncover about her mother's past? Will Skyrim be a home, or a prison?
Series: Into the Open Air [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1636402
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue

Into the Open Air  
Season 1- Out of the Ashes  
Prologue 

Two men sat across from each other in a grand dining room that had been collecting dust for years. One was an Altmer called Valrion, who wore simple clothes commonly found in Skyrim. The most ornate thing on him was a golden pendant in the shape of a sun with a flawless ruby in the center. The amulet had seen its fair share of nastiness considering the broken and scratched bits, but it still shined resiliently in the light of the lanterns hanging all over the walls. The other man was a Dunmer adorned in fine Telvanni robes that kept him mostly covered, however what you could see of his skin, his face and hands, were covered in scars. Phoenix had a frail look to him and was usually hunched over due to his cane being too short for him. He had never bothered to replace his original cane from when his left leg was first rendered useless, which had become an issue since he had grown quite a bit taller since he was eleven. His rough skin and cane made him appear at first glance far older than he actually was, something that Valrion quite enjoyed teasing him about. He had long, black hair that he let hang in his face and bit of a beard. The men sat in silence, picking at the remnants of dinner. Phoenix would every so often hobble towards the doorway to peak into the parlor where his daughter was reading, almost systematically. Neither man dared speak, until Valrion worked up the nerve.  
“You really should think about it.”  
“I don’t think you understand what you’re asking me to do. Pack up and leave everything? My family has been here… I’ve been here my whole life. I was born here, I always assumed I’d die here too. Nebula was born here, Briony and I got married here… Brother, I have never set foot outside of Morrowind,” Phoenix said in a hushed tone, trying to make sure Nebula would be unable to hear their conversation.  
Valrion sighed and spoke once more, “I know that it’s not ideal, but you know more than I do how dangerous things are getting. Even removing your family from the equation, the government is collapsing, the ash bowl has caused one of the worst famines in history, and another corprus outbreak is starting to reach worrying levels. I know this is your home, but it’s not safe for you, or your girl. Skyrim is… It’s not ideal. I won’t lie to you, but it’s safer. It’s a hard land to live on, but not impossible. There’s not as many riots or food shortages, and it’s under Imperial protection. I can’t claim to be too fond of the Empire, but they are at least organized.” Phoenix sat back down with a pained groan before directing his attention away from his leg and back at his friend. Valrion waited for a moment before continuing, “What will happen to your girl if they find out about her… disabilities?”  
Phoenix remained silent and shook his head, “Not a soul beyond the three of us can ever know. I’ve tried to teach her. Magic should be like breathing… Well, truthfully she’s not too good at that either… But you understand what I mean, right?” The Dunmer sighed and rested his forehead in his hands. “She can’t go outside. Her lungs are too weak, she has attacks if she’s outside for too long. The ash just gets to her too much. I hate keeping Nebula from being able to go out and play, but between the riots, threats, and the ash, she just can’t… In Skyrim, can you let your children play outside? Is it as dangerous?”  
“Griselda and I let the kids wander around wherever so long as they return in time for supper. I can only think of a few incidents, and the most prominent in my mind is when Yukina, Peri, Pera, and Gwendolyn forgot that Carr had gills. He pretended to have drowned, and they believed it until Daylion pointed out that his gills were moving. There have been some incidents with wolves and bears, but usually Griselda’s hunting keeps them at bay regardless. If you are looking at going to Windhelm, Nebula should be able to play around the city with ease so long as she doesn’t disturb the locals too much. The city is surrounded by thick, stone walls that have been well kept for the most part. It’s also surrounded by a river. Griselda used to live in Windhelm, back when she was a Stormcloak, but we decided to live in Riften when we married. More forest, less threats.”  
“Threats?”  
“Well, it’s not a secret that the Nords don’t usually care for elves. I’m sure you can imagine the reaction they have to seeing Griselda and I together. Not to mention we’ve adopted children of several different racial backgrounds as well. Daylion is the only one that looks like he could be ours. It’s safer down by Riften for us. It’s a hub for organized crime, but racism isn’t as much as a concern.”  
Phoenix sipped his drink, thinking over the situation. “Briony always told me that Windhelm was a hellish place to live. Cold, covered in snow, and the Dunmer were treated poorly.”  
“That’s all true, but the way I see it, you can get killed by a hungry mob taking it out on the nobility here, or Nebula can grow up a bit cold and with the occasional nasty remark. Try contacting Briony’s family. I’m sure they will be willing to take you both in until you get back on your feet.”  
“That’s the issue. Briony’s parents began shunning her when she married me and immigrated here. The last she heard from them, they called her a heretic and told her they would burn any letters from her until she went back to Skyrim. I couldn’t get ahold of them even if I tried. I’ve never even met them.”  
“Did she keep in contact with any friends?”  
“She wrote a childhood friend, Malthyr, fairly regularly. I’m sure I can find the address to send something to him. Perhaps he can relay the message from me to Briony’s family,” Phoenix thought aloud. “What happens if they reject us though?”  
“You’ll never know until you try, Brother,” Valrion encouraged. “I would be willing to take you and Nebula if it weren’t for hard times for my own family. It’s a blessing that I’m even able to see you face to face presently with how poorly the business has been doing. I’m sorry, but I just can’t guarantee that I will be able to feed my wife, children, as well as you and Nebula.”  
“I understand. Even if we are on our own, Nebula and I will manage. I’ll just need someone to care for her while I finalize the immigration and get our things ready to move. I just hope Briony’s family can be persuaded to watch her for a month or two.”  
“They weren’t like yours. Besides, I’m sure Mara would shock them if they turned away their little granddaughter like that. They were supposedly religious zealots, right?”  
“Yeah… That apple didn’t fall far from the tree.” Phoenix groaned and massaged his temples. “Briony was… Amazing, but crazy.”  
“Wouldn’t expect you to pick anyone less than that,” Valrion said with a good natured chuckle. “You have always been particular.”  
“Just… let’s hope for some good luck for once,” Phoenix said slowly, nervously swishing his wine around in his goblet. 

Months later, Phoenix and Nebula were sitting in the parlor, reading a book together. Nebula had picked a story about a pair of smart talking convicts escorting a princess to safety after a giant cliff racer, called the Queen, attacked the city. It was an old folktale, one of the first books Phoenix had managed to teach himself to read, so it made him happy that Nebula seemed to enjoy the story as well.  
It was a peaceful evening. He and Nebula had been taking turns reading passages from the book aloud for the last hour or so after a fine dinner of spicy kwama egg and rice soup with some bread. Nebula seemed happy, which made Phoenix feel more and more guilty as he reflected on the conversation to come. Once they had finished the current chapter, Phoenix closed the book and set it down on the end table by the sofa. Nebula quirked an eyebrow at him before reaching across her dad to try to get the book.  
“Come on, Dad, just one more chapter, it’s too early to sleep.”  
“We need to talk about something, Baby Girl. Then we can read more, I swear,” Phoenix began. Nebula glanced up at her dad for a moment before hugging him again and resting her head on his chest.  
“Am I in trouble?”  
“No, Sweetie, you’re not in trouble, but it is important,” he shook his head and gently caressed his daughter’s hair as he tried to think of the right way to begin the conversation. “Your mother, do you remember how I told you that she wasn’t from Morrowind?”  
“Yes, wasn’t she from uh… I don’t remember, it’s not Morrowind, so it probably ain’t that important,” Nebula shrugged. “Why?”  
“Recently, things here have been getting dangerous, and I fear that if we stay here, you will be in serious danger. I got in contact with your mother’s family through one of her old friends in Skyrim, and after considering everything, I have decided that it would be best for us if we moved to Skyrim,” Phoenix explained. He kept his eyes up at the ceiling as he spoke. The words felt wrong. To say that they were going to leave home… How can that ever sound or feel right?  
“Dad, we can’t just go. This is home!” Nebula protested. “I won’t go.”  
“You will go, and that is not up for negotiation,” he said sternly, directing his gaze back down to Nebula. She angrily gripped his robe and looked away from him, breathing heavily through her nose.  
“Well I’ll just jump off the boat so there.”  
“And then what? You can’t swim. Come on, Nebula, you’re smarter than that,” Phoenix said in as much of an authoritative tone as he could muster, though it still didn’t sound very commanding. He sighed, knowing his efforts to sound in charge had failed miserably, like they always seemed to. He held Nebula closer to him and sat in silence while she whimpered before speaking again. “I know this is going to be hard. I’m afraid too, but we have to be brave now. It’s just getting too dangerous here, and I want to keep you safe.”  
“I know,” Nebula mumbled into his shoulder.  
“I need you to be brave, Little Star. You will arrive before I do, and you will be cared for by your mother’s parents. I have been exchanging letters with them, and I do believe they will care for you well. This won’t be long. I will be there with you as soon as I have finalized the immigration and gotten what we can take with us packed.”  
“I have to go alone?” Nebula looked up at her dad with a horrified expression. Her usually clear, even, light blue skin was covered in dark purple blotches from crying. The lights reflecting off of her tears made her bright red eyes appear to glow in the shadows. Phoenix gently wiped away the tears from her cheeks, fighting back tears of his own.  
“I hate it too. I don’t want to send you there alone, but I want to get you to safety as soon as possible. You’ll be accompanied by your uncle Valrion to Windhelm. There, your grandparents will pick you up from the shipyard. I will be there within a month or two of your arrival.”  
“I don’t like other people, I just want to stay with you, Dad.”  
“I know, but it’ll just be safer this way. Things are getting very dangerous very quick. I want you out of the country as soon as possible.”  
Nebula tightened her grip on her dad, avoiding looking him in the eye. She didn’t say anything in response. She could think of so many things she would want to say. Many particularly unsavory words came to mind, but she knew it wouldn’t change the situation, nor would her father appreciate it very much. She didn’t want to upset him, even if she was angry. He was all she had left. She wouldn’t jeopardize that relationship, even over such a ridiculous move such as this. She snorted and breathed in deeply, or at least, she tried to. Despite her efforts to remain composed, she ended up wheezing and gasping for air, much to Phoenix’s worry. He grabbed a small potion from the end table and tried to hand it to his daughter. She shook her head and continued trying to catch her breath, but eventually gave up her stubbornness and took the potion. The effects were rather instantaneous; within a minute, she was breathing normally once more as if the attack had never happened. She sighed and sloppily wiped her face on the sleeve of her robe.  
“Why can’t we go together? Nothing has happened yet, we’re fine.”  
“Nebula, we’ve had a lot of close calls and you know it. The riots are getting more severe as food gets more scarce. The only reason you aren’t feeling the effects of the famine is our wealth, but even so, I’ve had to put off the purchase of many our usual luxuries to ensure we can consistently have good food. And that’s not taking into consideration that you cannot cast simple spells yet.”  
“I’m trying!”  
Phoenix sighed, “Baby Girl, I know you are, it doesn’t bother me, but you are in danger if anyone finds out about it. You’ll be perceived as weak. I don’t want that. You’ll be safer in Skyrim, you’ll be able to learn at your own pace without the pressures of house politics.”  
“Yeah, well when I grow up, I’m gonna be so fucking powerful everyone will grovel at my feet for ever thinking I was weak,” Nebula grumbled in irritation, more so at the situation than at her dad.  
“I know you will, Little Star, but you have a long ways to go before that. And you’ll need to survive to that point in life.”  
She frowned and crossed her arms. She wanted to protest it, but she knew it was true. All her cousins had been casting spells since they were toddlers and were advanced students now. Meanwhile, she herself had failed to cast even the simplest spell, despite rigorous practice. She was surrounded by magic, but she couldn’t feel it. It was foreign, despite being so close. That was, to put it lightly, not ideal. She knew it caused her father stress. Would he spend less time fortifying their home if they lived in Skyrim? Would anyone be able to even find out about her ineptitude there?  
She clung to her father tightly and breathed out a sigh. Her heart was still racing and her lungs ached. All she wanted was to rest, for the stress to go away.  
“Dad?”  
“Yes, Baby?”  
“I’ll be brave, but I want it to be worth it. Will our lives be good in the new country?”  
“I promise I will make sure that you have the best life I can give you there.”  
“Ok. I’ll be brave, Dad.”  
“I know, Baby Girl. You already are.” 

So they stood there on the docks of Sadrith Mora, waiting to board the ship. The little Dunmer girl held her favorite doll in one arm, and her father’s hand with the other hand. Valrion was carrying his and Nebula’s bags, as well as their tickets to board the boat. Nebula looked around, taking in the sights as much as she could. She tried to save every image in her mind where she could never forget. She wanted to take in as much of the scenery as she could before she got on the dark, cramped boat to leave her homeland forever.  
Many people were lined up for two ships. The majority of those boarding ships were children, who were escorted by soldiers. One ship had the flag of the Aldmeri Dominion, and the other ship, the one Nebula was boarding, had the flag of the Empire. There was the occasional adult, though they seemed to be the minority. She glanced up at her father, who had a thousand yard stare she had rarely seen him have. Nebula hugged his arm tightly as they inched closer and closer to the entrance of the ship. With every step, the rotting wooden ship docks creaked and moaned forlornly under the weight of the people, and the echoes of people shouting became deafening. Even with the markets deserted, the chatter was just too much.  
Valrion handed the solider at the entrance their tickets and got on the boat. Phoenix pulled his daughter into a tight hug, unable to fight the tears rolling down his cheeks. Nebula clung to her dad for dear life, unsure of how she could possibly let go in the next few minutes. The father and daughter stood there in silence, simply embracing as if it was the last time they would ever see each other face to face.  
“Is it too late to stay, Dad?” Nebula asked in the calmest whisper she could muster.  
“I’m afraid so,” Phoenix replied in the most broken tone she had ever heard. “Remember to stay with Uncle Valrion. Don’t run off with strangers, stay away from the ledges of the ship, and always turn off your lamp before you sleep. Make sure you drink as much water as you are allowed, but always add drops of those potions I packed. Your asthma medicine is under your pillow in the suitcase. If you’re having an attacked, take it. I’ve also packed you the recipe to make it. When you arrive in Windhelm, bring it to the local alchemist immediately. And don’t forget to eat plenty of citrus, you could get sick if you don’t. Don’t sit too close to smoke-“  
“I’ll be ok, Dad. I promise.”  
Phoenix simply hugged his daughter tighter and nodded. “I… I know. I’m proud of you. Be good, I’ll be with you soon. I love you so much, Baby Girl.”  
“I love you too, Dad.”  
Nebula reluctantly let go of her dad after some prompting from the guard to cut the goodbye short and get on the boat. As she boarded, her last view before the dark was her father’s silhouette on the docks. The bright sun was setting, coverings everything in harsh shadows and painting the sky deep orange and pink shades. In the distance, she could see their grand mushroom tower, looking over the city as if it were a protector. As she was pulled further from the scene, all she could focus in on was Phoenix standing there, watching her sail further and further out of his grasp. As the ash began to pick up and blow, blurring the sight of her home and her father, she knew this would be the last time she saw home. It would be her last memory of Morrowind. With one last gaze over the side of the deck, she went down to her dark, crowded living quarters with Valrion.


	2. Welcome to Windhelm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nebula arrives in Windhelm and meets her mother's family, the Avanims.

Chapter 1 – Welcome to Windhelm

Nebula quietly waited in line with the other children on the ship. The candles had all been blown out to preserve them for as long as possible, as the boat had a long journey ahead of her before it would finally end. Unfortunately for the children, that meant they were standing in the darkness, with the only light coming from the entrance/exit to the living quarters under deck, but even that little bit of light was blocked by a large guard. The guard was adorned in a blue cloak and a mask that covered his entire face. On his back was a large, steel war hammer, and his faceless figure loomed over the line. Even the usually mouthy or disobedient children were too intimidated to dare act out.  
Chills ran down Nebula’s spine, but she couldn’t tell if it was from fear or from the cold wind blowing down into the cabin. Valrion had been able to leave the boat, but she had to stay. Supposedly, it was for inspections and examinations. She wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean, all she knew was that she desperately wanted to get on land and see the sun, something she hadn’t had the pleasure of in a while.  
After what felt like an eternity, Nebula was finally at the front of the line, where she faced the guard and another guard in identical attire. This one grabbed her arm and pulled her up out of the cabin in an apathetic manner.  
“This way to the inspector.”  
“What is that supposed to mean?” Nebula asked, stumbling after the guard. She was having a hard time regaining her balance from months at sea and being dragged across the docks didn’t exactly help matters. Still, she thanked the gods for being able to see the sun again after being left in the darkness for so long. She looked around at the strange sights that surrounded her. Just on the other side of the docks was a large stone wall that encased a large city, which appeared to also be made of stone. All along the docks, Argonians worked, loading and unloading ships under the supervision of a Dunmer woman, who seemed a bit distracted from her job by the Dunmer children being hauled off to inspection outside the city. Ice floated in the river, reminding her of when her father would purchase a chunk of ice from Solstheim, except this ice wasn’t in a cup of water. All around her was white, cold powder that feel from the sky and got stuck on her. She felt as though she was going to freeze from the inside out from the overwhelming cold, but continued to stumble to the inspection building, where it was a bit warmer.  
The building was on the docks by the warehouses and divided into two sections. One was for examinations, and the other was for quarantine. While walking to the doctor, Nebula noticed a Dunmer girl being dragged into quarantine. The girl protested and yelled that she didn’t have bugs in her hair, but she was ignored and promptly put in the other section of the building by two nurses.  
An Imperial doctor was waiting for Nebula in the examination room. He wore a white lab coat overtop of his fine clothes, and a pair of spectacles sat on his nose, making him look like a bug staring her down. He put on a pair of gloves and coldly motioned for her to sit down on the table. Nebula felt as though she had become an ice sculpture, cold and frozen in place with no way to move. Her eyes darted around the room, taking in every detail as quick as she could. The whole area was heavily guarded, she couldn’t run. The greatest amount of light was by the doctor, otherwise the building was rather poorly lit, relying on lanterns and candles rather than gas lamps. On the ground were bloody, discarded gloves and piles of hair. Nebula wondered what that could possibly mean. The guards got tired of waiting and pushed her into the table in irritation.  
“Stop holding up the line, there’s too many of you as is!”  
“What’s going on?” Nebula asked as she grabbed the table to keep herself from falling.  
“Medical evaluation. This will determine your placement.”  
“I’m supposed to go into Windhelm and live with my grandparents.”  
“Only healthy, clean, sponsored children are allowed in the city. Jarl’s orders. If you don’t fit the health standards, you’re going to Riften,” The doctor replied nonchalantly. “Sit on the table.”  
“I’m not sick.”  
“I’ll be the judge of that.”  
Nebula glared at the doctor for a good minute or so before complying and climbing up onto the table. The doctor first checked her pulse, then her eyes, teeth, and hair. While he checked, he and the nurses conversed about the general condition of the children. Apparently, a lot of them had lice, or some other type of bug in their hair from living in close quarters. A good amount had skin problems, breathing problems, and were suffering from illnesses. One of the worst offenders was cholera. Some of the water supply they got at their last stop was contaminated with the disease and had already caused the death of at least five children that Nebula could recall. She had been lucky enough to not have been served the contaminated water, but she was still being checked for symptoms of the disease, as well as several others. Nebula was not ill this time, however. For once, her health was good, which surprised her a bit. She remembered clearly being a sickly child, often unable to breathe and bedridden. She wondered if this meant she was finally getting stronger.  
“Did you noticed any visible scabs or abnormalities of the skin so far?” the doctor asked a nurse.  
“No, but should we check?”  
“Probably, but I really don’t feel like fighting another damn kid over it. Let’s just say she’s clear. Everything else looks fine. No bugs, has all her teeth, no signs of illness.”  
The nurse nodded and helped Nebula off of the table. She took her by the hand and led her to a guard, who led her outside of the building and to a Nord man who was holding a piece of paper.  
“This child claims to have a sponsor in the city,” the guard informed the man.  
“What’s her name?”  
“I’m Nebula Telvanni.”  
“Name of sponsors?”  
“The Avanim family. Arowen, Bjorn, and Galvus are the names my father told me. It’s my mother’s family.”  
The Nord looked at the paper before nodding, “The information matches. Escort her into the city. The family should be waiting for her inside.”  
“They should be at registration office, correct?”  
“Yessir, it’s one of the first buildings you see, a bit across the way from Candlehearth Hall.”  
“Got it. Let’s go, kid.”  
Nebula looked around for Valrion, partially out of fear of being dragged into the city by a stranger, and partially because he had all of her things. He was nowhere in sight, making her begin to worry more. Nebula breathed in through her nose harshly, trying to hide her struggling for air. She didn’t want the guard to notice and throw her back on the ship. As the gaits to the city creaked open, a whole plethora of strange smells hit her. Inside the city, there were many people, all going about their own business. Two little Nord boys were running around, playing adventurers while being supervised by a Dunmer woman, who would routinely pull the two of them out of the way of workers or the occasional beast pulled cart. An elderly woman walked around, acting suspicious of everyone she came into contact to, with the exception of a man she was heavily flirting with, to the point of discomfort to anyone near them. Paper boys ran through the city, tossing newspapers to citizens and their doorsteps while vendors sold their wares to anyone willing to listen to their pitch. Nebula found herself staring a lot at a group of Nord teenage girls who were dressed to the nines. They were wearing all of the latest fashion from Cyrodil, but with slight modifications for the cold climate in Skyrim. They had jewelry on every inch of them, and the finest, cute little slippers. The little girl felt a pang of jealousy. She would love to have another cute pair of slippers, but she had left hers at home. Phoenix had insisted, “You will need practical shoes, Little Sera.” And “I will get you a nice new pair when we’re both in Skyrim. Any kind and color you want.” Nebula grinned a little at the thought. She’d have FAR nicer shoes than those girls. Her dad would make sure she had the best slippers in all of Windhelm. How else would people know how important she was?  
Nebula was pulled out of her thoughts when she and the guard arrived at the building. Inside were several people, filling out forms and being interviewed by government officials. Sitting on a bench were three Dunmer. The woman was a surprisingly muscular build, with graying brown hair tied up in a braid bun hybrid Nebula had never seen before. She was wearing a simple indigo colored dress and an apron. Around the woman’s neck were two necklaces that looked like they had little gold horns on them, though one looked far more warn and weathered. The woman held hands with a man who was wearing standard blacksmith attire. He had orange hair that had been cut short and slicked back out of his eyes. Next to them was another man, who looked far older than the other two people. He was wearing a simple black robe and had elected to keep his gray hair in a sloppy, low bun of sorts, that ultimately just looked like a mess. The elderly man was rather chatty, going on a mile long tirade to the people around him.  
“Can you believe that bullshit? It’s a HISTORICAL NOVEL! Guess what? Three hundred years ago, Talos was still widely considered a divine. It would be historically inaccurate to portray the nine divines as the eight divines in the book, it takes place during the aftermath of the goddamn Oblivion Crisis! I would know, I was there, but no, these Thalmor cock gobbling publishers are censoring my work because it messes with their fragile sensibilities. Let me tell you somethin’, Son, when ya start trying to erase history you’re uncomfortable with, you’re gonna start denying it exists and learn nothing from it. You think there’s anyone that ever lived a perfect life devoid of sin? Not hardly. We’re all assholes. But we’re assholes who can learn. I’m proof of that. Trying to erase the mortal aspect of anyone or any situation to vilify or sanctify one group or another is just dishonest and stupid. Child, I walked across mountain chains, swam across rivers, hiked up hill both ways through seven feet of snow, fought a family of horkers with my bare hands, and worked my ass off to learn a trade here, and yet everyone thinks I’m an incompetent old man. I’ve seen more in a year than any of these morons have seen in a lifetime!”  
“Business is going that bad?” another Dunmer asked the old man.  
“Yes, it’s quite unfortunate. How’s business going for you?”  
“Fairly well, I suppose. I don’t really have any stand out stories… Except for this one woman who came in and tried to sell me twenty iron daggers, three sets of the same basic dress, a human skull, and fifteen cheese wheels. I’m not really sure how she came into possession of all that, much less how she hauled it all into the store, but it was interesting nonetheless. She bought all the healing potions I had in stock then ran off to get in a fist fight in the street.”  
“Strange, but par for the course around here,” the old man chuckled. “Have I told you about that time my ex wife-“  
“Avanim family?!” the guard yelled out.  
The woman popped up out of her seat, “That would be us!” The old man waved a hand in the air, and the woman’s husband quietly walked over to the guard with a large folder packed with papers and documents. The woman cheerily walked over with her husband to the guard. “Is this little Nebula?”  
“Yeah, apparently. Do you have the correct documentation to take her?”  
“It’s all right here,” the man replied and handed the folder to the guard. The guard looked over the documents before handing them back to the man.  
“It’s all yours.” The guard passed Nebula off to the couple before darting out of the office to get back to work.  
Nebula looked up at the older couple and the old man, who had hobbled over to join them after his conversation had ended. She looked around the room, wondering where Valrion could be. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to follow these strangers to wherever but didn’t see much choice in the matter.  
“You must be Nebula,” the old man broke the silence. “I’m Galvus. I’m your great great grandpa. These are your grandparents, Arowen and Bjorn.”  
Arowen knelt down to get a better look at Nebula, gently holding her cheeks, “Oh, Darling, she looks nothing like Briony.”  
“She has Briony’s nose,” Bjorn commented.  
“Oh, I can tell she’s ours, stop fussing over her looks,” Galvus said in exasperation. “Let’s just get her home, I’m sure she’s very tired and hungry. Those boats aren’t any more comfortable now than they were back in the day, I can guarantee that.”  
“I wasn’t doubting her,” Arowen grumbled at Galvus before smiling at Nebula. “Come on, Sweetie, let’s go pick up your things and take you home. We’ll get you cleaned up, dinner will be at five sharp, then we have temple at six.” Arowen stood back up, grabbed Nebula’s hand, and they four of them exited the office.  
“Where’s Uncle Valrion?” Nebula asked, looking around as she once more dragged through the unfamiliar city. Granted, her grandmother wasn’t nearly as rough as the guard had been but was still effectively dragging Nebula around with her. She didn’t think it was on purpose however.  
“He’s waiting at the corner club. We’ll pick up your things then we can go home,” Arowen replied. “I’ll run you a bath when we get there, though make it quick, Dusana is getting off her shift and will need a bath. She’s always covered in grime after work.”  
“Who’s Dusana?”  
“Your older cousin. You have two. Dusana and Lennox. They’re twins, twenty one years old. Still single, they like to waste time it seems,” Arowen sighed. “I keep trying to find them nice suitors, but nothing ever seems to stick.”  
“Stop harassing those poor girls, they got the rest of their lives to be miserable,” Galvus said with a roll of his eyes.  
“What if they turn out slutty like their mother?”  
“Then we do nothing and mind our own business.”  
“It IS my business,” Arowen protested.  
“Yes, yes, everything is your business, we know.” Galvus coughed and continued walking behind Arowen, Bjorn, and Nebula. They had walked past the market, the large inn, and past several large houses. Nebula looked up at the large, olden wooden homes with awe. She had never seen houses like those before. She wondered which one she would be living in, but began to feel confused as the family descended down the stone steps, further away from the luxurious homes. The further they walked, the worse the buildings started looking. Perhaps a shortcut to the home through the slums? Didn’t seem very practical or safe to Nebula. Phoenix had always warned her to stay near him whenever they went to the market, because their wealth would make them targets to the jealous, impoverished populous. She didn’t see what would possess her grandparents to be as careless as to walk through such an area.  
Bjorn splintered off from the group while Nebula, Arowen, and Galvus walked into a pub. The pub was not in the best condition. Some pieces of the wooden floors and walls were missing or broken, so you had to watch your step. Familiar lanterns were hung on the walls and the counter had bottles of shein and matze on display. Still, all the tables were clean, and the floor was being swept when they walked in. The inside of the pub was still cold like it was outside from poor insulation.  
Sitting at the bar was Valrion, who was enjoying some steamed mudcrab and boiled ash yams. It was a simple meal, but it smelled ethereal to Nebula. She walked over to Valrion and climbed onto the stool next to him.  
“Can I have a bite, Uncle Valrion?”  
“Sure, help yourself,” he replied and slid the plate between the two of them. Nebula grinned and hungrily dug into what was left of the meal.  
“Don’t overeat, I’m making a lot of food for dinner!” Arowen exclaimed.  
“I won’t,” Nebula mumbled between bites, but she was rather determined to eat everything on the plate anyways. On the ship, there hadn’t been anything she would really call a meal. A bowl of porridge. Every. Day. Usually, it was bland, mushy, and lacked anything of substance. The only thing of flavor on the ship had been the lime and orange juice served to prevent them from catching scurvy. Given what happened with a few barrels of water, perhaps the sour juice was safer to drink, and following her father’s advice on citrus intake had saved her life.  
“Is she Briony’s child?” the bartender asked.  
“Yes, this is Nebula. You can’t see much of Briony in her, unfortunately,” Arowen commented. “I suppose she must’ve taken after her father.”  
“Everyone always has said that I look just like my dad,” Nebula explained. “Mom died before I could remember her, so I don’t know if I look like her or not.”  
The man who had been sweeping the floor leaned the broom against a table and sighed, “It’s a shame. I had hoped to see her again. I’m glad to have at least finally gotten a letter from your father about it.”  
“Did you know my mom?” Nebula asked and turned around to face the man.  
“Yes, she was a friend. We grew up together. We exchanged letters when she left Skyrim,” he explained. “My name is Malthyr. That’s Ambarys, he owns this place. Welcome to Windhelm.”  
“Thank you, Sera. I’m Nebula Telvanni. The food is good.”  
Ambarys chuckled, “Well I’m glad that somebody is appreciative of it.”  
“I will be needing to take my leave if I want to get back to Riften by the time I promised Griselda I would,” Valrion said as he stood up.  
“You’re leaving already?” Nebula asked quietly as she slid off of the stool.  
“I have to tend to my family. You will be alright here, and Phoenix will be here within a month or two,” Valrion assured. “You’re safe here. I wouldn’t leave you with dangerous people.”  
“I know… I’ll just miss you is all.”  
“We’ll see each other again for New Year. And you’ll be able to meet the rest of my family.” Valrion handed Nebula one of her bags and Arowen the other suitcase. “See you soon.”  
“Bye, Uncle Valrion.” Nebula mumbled quietly as she held her suitcase in two hands, watching the man walk away. She looked down at the damaged floor of the corner club and thought to herself about how she was now truly alone in a strange, foreign land. 

Galvus and Ambarys had talked for a while longer while Arowen tried to pull her grandfather in law out of the club to no avail. Nebula hadn’t focused on their conversation. The weight of her situation was too heavy for her to care much for small talk. Eventually, they left and walked further down the street. Arowen stopped in front of a door to a building that was connected to a grocery store. She unlocked the door then opened it for Nebula and Galvus. Nebula hesitated. This couldn’t possibly be it, could it? This small apartment in a slum, was that really where they lived? She walked inside and took a look around. It was a plain home, but was clean and well kept despite the poor quality. There wasn’t much of not to Nebula besides the lack of Dunmeri furnishings. No lanterns, urns, or anything that looked like it could be from home. The only familiar thing was the many bookshelves, but she doubted they would contain the same contents her dad’s had at home. Galvus smiled a little to Nebula.  
“I know it ain’t much to look at, but it’s what we have. Feel free to make yourself comfortable or read any of my books.”  
“Are they all yours?” Nebula asked.  
“Well, I started the collection, but I share with the family. We used to have more, but we’ve had to sell some from time to time.”  
“For more space?”  
“No, for enough gold.”  
Galvus sat down in a rocking chair by the fire and opened the book he had been reading. Nebula felt frozen as she looked around the room. Arowen had began straightening up coats on racks and putting things in a slightly different order before walking to the shop that was connected to the rest of the house.  
“Lilura, can you go run Nebula a bath?”  
“I’ve been working all day, can’t I have a break?”  
“Oh you lazy brat, it won’t kill you to prepare a bath. It don’t take that much work.”  
“Fiiiine,” Lilura groaned and stumbled out of the shop and into the bathroom to prepare the bath. Nebula sat down on the floor by the fire, waiting quietly for Arowen to show her where to put her things. Arowen had dealt with a customer at the shop before walking back into the common room.  
“Come with me, I’ll show you to your bed.”  
“Yessera.” Nebula mumbled, having to fight her urge to just stay next to the fireplace where it was semi warm, or at least, the warmest she had been all day. Still, she got up and followed her grandmother up the ladder to the loft, where the house sectioned off into four rooms. It was still small by Nebula’s standards, but she’d later find that her family was well off compared to the majority of their neighbors. Nebula was taken to a room with three single size beds covered in homemade quilts and embroidered pillows. There was also animal hide blankets laid out on the foot of the beds, but they were pushed down so that the patterns on the quilts would be visible. On the walls were a few cross stitch pieces and various newspaper clippings all around on bed. There was a small chest at the end of each bed and a vanity in the last bit of free space.  
“This one is yours,” Arowen pat a bed. It was on the right side of the room and closest to the door. There was one other bed on the right side, but it was closer to the window, and the bed on the left side was straight across from it. “Make sure to make your bed immediately every morning. Pattern should be facing up.”  
“Won’t the made do it?”  
“We don’t have a maid, Child, and my house isn’t going to be unkept. Don’t be lazy, keep things clean and tidy.”  
“We have to clean it all ourselves?” Nebula asked in confusion. “I don’t know how.”  
Arowen sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, “I will teach you, sweetie. But once I do, you better do it, are we clear?”  
“Yes, sera.”  
“You can call me Grandma, you know. We’re family,” Arowen smiled a little at Nebula before sitting down on the bed and patting the spot next to her. Nebula set down her luggage before sitting down beside her grandmother. “I know it must be frightening to be somewhere new, but I’m sure you’ll find Skyrim to your liking.”  
“It’s so cold here. Is it always like this?” Nebula asked.  
“Yes, it is, but it’s not that bad.”  
“I don’t really like it…”  
“You’ll change your mind. Go ahead and put your things away, your bath should be ready shortly.”  
“Alright.” Nebula knelt by the chest and opened up her suitcases while Arowen walked out of the room in silence. The nine year old opened the chest and began setting her belongings inside. She smiled a little at the sloppily folded clothes inside. Phoenix had helped her pack her things. Sure, it wasn’t as perfect as if the maids had done it, but somehow, she liked how he had done it better. She set the a nice robe in the bottom of the chest, then her school clothes on top, and play clothes beside her school clothes. She plopped her pajamas on top of both little piles before setting her shoes down in the free corner, with the socks near them. She set her books in the chest then closed it. She tossed the remaining three items, her pillow and her two toys, a handmade doll and a plush guar, onto the bed before collapsing on the floor. She lied on her back, staring up at the old ceiling. She wondered where her dad was at that moment, and if he was wondering about her too. Nebula sat up and pulled out her journal from the chest, as well as a quill and what remained of the ink she had packed. She had been keeping a record of the events on the boat, and making up some poems out of boredom. Flipping through her previous writings made her feel more and more thankful to be on solid land and away from the crowded cabin. She carefully wrote out a small prayer for her father’s safety before closing the journal and putting it away under her clothes. She got up off the floor after hearing her name being called and took a look out the window at the gray quarter below her. Nebula wasn’t sure how such a place could be home. She took solace in knowing her father would be able to afford somewhere far nicer. She smiled a little and went down to see what her grandmother needed while fantasizing about what her new room would be like when Phoenix arrived in Windhelm.


	3. School Days

Chapter 2 – School Days

Nebula woke up on a cold winter morning to her two older cousins getting ready. Dusana had come home from a twenty four hour shift at the factory while Lennox was getting ready for her shift at the printing press. Nebula was annoyed at being woken up far earlier than she needed to be awake, but since she was already up she took the time to watch her cousins. Dusana was grabbing her bath supplies. She definitely needed one. The young Dunmer woman was covered in grime, gore, and dirt from her job, which involved preserving and packaging the food from the local farms. Butchering meat, canning vegetables, it didn’t seem too demanding until you thought of the equipment, which was notorious for taking people in with the rest of the food. All that work and danger for a measly four septims a day.   
“One day, I’ll throw that man into the machine, make a sausage out of him, and serve it to his wife and brats. That’ll teach them to mess with me,” Dusana muttered as she prepared her bath supplies. Lennox dropped her brush on the vanity and gave Dusana an angry look.   
“Surely you can’t be serious? Don’t even joke about such an atrocity!”   
“It’s no real loss. The Nords around here could use a good humbling, don’t you think?”   
“If we treat them all as if they are the monsters, then we are no different. They fear us, but can you blame them if you go around saying such things? What are they to think of us as a people? That we are sadistic murderers wanting to torment a widow and her children? Your words and actions reflect on us all, Dusana… Whether it’s right or wrong.”   
“So you’re perfectly content being the n’wahs’ lapdog?”   
“Just because I’m willing to judge people on their personal merits does NOT make me anyone’s bitch.”   
“Really? I coulda sworn you were all bent over for that Shatter-Shield girl,” Dusana said with a devilous grin. “How much gold is she giving you to fulfill her fetish, Lenny?”   
“Leave Friga out of this! Nothing is going on, we’re friends! And don’t talk about such things around Nebula, she’s nine,” Lennox exclaimed in anger, bolting up from the vanity with eyebrow pencil in hand, as if it was a shank. Her twin simply laughed and wiped her hands off with a towel before grabbing her pajamas.   
“Like Nebula’s not gonna find out about these things eventually.”   
Lennox glared at Dusana before sitting back down to work on her eyebrows, “I would rather you not imply such things about me. If that’s what you really think, then so be it, but don’t be filling everyone else’s heads with your perverted nonsense. And don’t you dare damage Friga’s reputation by insinuating something as heinous as that about her.”   
“Why do you care about what people say about the Nord slut?”   
“She’s not a slut, she’s my friend, and I don’t want her reputation to be damaged because you’ve decided to be so unnecessarily hateful!”   
Nebula curled up under her blankets, trying make herself smaller and hidden. She knew Dusana and Lennox would never hurt her, but she still felt a bit intimidated by them when they were angry. The softer of the twins seemed to notice, and walked over to Nebula’s bedside after finishing her eyebrows. She knelt at her bedside and gently ran her hands through Nebula’s long, black hair.   
“No need to be afraid, Dear. Family fights sometimes.”   
“What was Dusana talking about? Is something wrong with that Friga girl?” she asked as she clung to her ragdoll and stuffed guar.   
“Nonsense, Dusana just wishes to get under my skin. I can assure you that Friga is a respectable and kind woman, and I also have decent enough character to refrain from… Unsavory activities such as what Dusana accused me of.”   
“What exactly was she accusing you of doing? Stealing or something?”   
Lennox shifted uncomfortably, “Um… It’s a bit of a long explanation, but Dusana believes that I am… Romantically involved with Friga for money.”   
“Are you?”   
“No! Of course not. Don’t think of such a thing, I have more self respect, and more respect for Friga than that.”   
“What would be wrong about being her girlfriend?”   
“She’s a Nord, Nebula. I’m a Dunmer. It could never work. Of course, we can be friends, but anything more would be wrong. Ask anyone and they will tell you the same,” Lennox explained with a sigh before standing up and putting on her apron for work. “I have work, and I believe you have your first day of school today.”   
“Yeah, I’ve never been to a schoolhouse before. Dad taught me everything I know all by himself,” Nebula said with a grin. “So I’m sure I’ll be WAY smarter than all the other children.”   
“Don’t boast or assume, sera.”   
Nebula frowned and sat up in her bed. She leaned against the wall and stared at Lennox with a slightly annoyed expression. She was only stating a fact. She was only telling it how it was, what she knew was true. Yet whenever she did so, someone in the family, mainly Arowen, would say ‘oh Nebula, do not say such things. An ego is unbecoming of a lady’. She wasn’t sure what so called ladies they were talking to, but a lady would be nothing without a little bit of pride. Pride in herself, in her lineage, and in her accomplishments. What was wrong with sharing that and asserting yourself? Still, Nebula shook off the criticism. “Uncle Ambarys taught me how to punch yesterday. He said if anyone messed with me, I had to punch them in the nose, like this,” Nebula said as she demonstrated a punch, slowly in the air. “You have turn your hips so it’ll be stronger, and hold your hand like this so you don’t break your thumb.”   
“Please please don’t punch someone. There’s really no need to.”   
“I don’t think I will have to, who would be stupid enough to mess with a Telvanni wizard’s only daughter?” Nebula asked in genuine sincerity before crawling out of bed and stumbling over to her chest. She pulled out her school clothes, which had been provided by Arowen. Apparently, she had a problem with Nebula’s attire from home.   
“I can’t have my grandbaby looking like a heathen! This is unacceptable!”   
Arowen never asked about the symbols on Nebula’s robes. Never considered for a moment that perhaps, they had nothing to do with religion at all. But still, the clothes were locked away and Nebula was left to wear the typical attire found in Skyrim, and the ugly, clunky boots with buckles. She longed desperately for her old robes that her father had diligently folded and packed into her suitcase with the utmost care. She longed for anything normal, anything from home, but thing by thing, Arowen seemed determined to strip Morrowind from Nebula. She had even tried to take Nebula’s stuffed guar, saying it was a lesser daedra. Galvus hadn’t stood for that one, and immediately interfered on Nebula’s behalf, as well as educated the family on what a guar was. Arowen usually ruled the house with an iron fist, but nobody dared fight Galvus when he would put his foot down on something. He was, after all, over 300 years old, a survivor of the corprus outbreak, and a survivor of the Oblivion Crisis. That would afford anyone a certain level of respect, Nebula reckoned.   
She slipped on her simple brown dress. She had asked for a blue one, but Arowen had insisted on brown.   
“Brown in tasteful. The dye was expensive, it shows that you’re a fine, proper young lady, not to wear flashy colors like a common whore.”   
Nebula gritted her teeth at the thought. Phoenix would never say something like that to her. He would let her pick her own clothes and tell her she looked like a lovely princess regardless. Not here. Here she was wrong no matter what she said. Her tastes from Morrowind seemed to earn her nothing but scoldings from Arowen. Apparently, she was too much of a Dunmer for her family’s Nordic standards. Nebula wondered how she could possibly be like her mother’s family. They rejected their heritage. They embraced the culture of the Nords while ridiculing their own people for holding onto their values. The little girl felt a passionate anger every time she thought about it.   
Nebula brushed her hair and stared in the mirror for a moment. If nothing else, they couldn’t change her true appearance. She took solace in the fact that whenever she looked in the mirror, she’d still see red eyes staring back at her. Nobody could change that, even if they dressed her like a Nord, even if they took her hairpins, even if they demanded their idea of proper behavior, the girl in the mirror would still be a little piece of Morrowind looking back at her.   
“LENNOX! NEBULA! BREAKFAST!” Arowen called from downstairs. Nebula smiled a little and darted out of the room the ladder, where she slid down to the first floor of the house. She raced to the large dining room table, where a magnificent spread was laid out. Eggs, sausage, and bread. Her mouth watered a little bit. Normally, she disliked the food in Skyrim, but she was willing to give credit where it was due; her grandma made an amazing breakfast.   
“Oh, you look lovely, Dear, but we should get that hair out of your face after breakfast,” Arowen greeted Nebula with a smile. “Come on, eat before your eggs get cold.”   
“I like my hair down,” Nebula said as she sat down to her plate. She immediately began stacking her scrambled eggs and sausage on top of the slice of bread she was given. It had become a favorite way to eat breakfast. She missed the flatbread from home, but she had grown rather found of the fluffy, yet dense bread her family ate with every meal.   
Arowen poured Nebula a tankard of milk and sighed, “It will get tangled. Please cooperate, it’s just a simple braid to keep it out of your face.”   
“Please just let me wear it down.”   
“Nebula, I’m not having a sloppy looking grandchild. We’re braiding your hair. Why must you fight me on every little thing?”   
“Why does everything have to be your way?”   
Arowen narrowed her eyes at Nebula, “I’m the adult, I’m responsible for you, I’m your grandmother, and you are an uninformed child. If I let you call the shots, you’d be acting like an unsophisticated heathen like your mother. I learned my lesson the first time.”   
“Dad says my mom was a great lady…” Nebula whispered to herself as she nibbled on her sandwich.   
“She turned her back on her family and on everything we taught her. She rejected the divines in favor of a dead religion that nobody practices anymore.”   
Nebula angrily tore into her food, trying to tune out Arowen’s comments about her mother. She hadn’t met her mother, or at least, not at any point she could actually remember, but she still hated the way her family talked about her. Briony was the love of Phoenix’s life. If her dad had loved the woman, than Nebula assumed that she must have been someone worth respect.   
Galvus stumbled out of his chair in the living room and set down a small woven bag on the table. Nebula peeked inside to see a notebook, a brand new slate, chalk, two pencils, and a textbook. The bag was tan with a blue flower pattern.   
“Is this my school bag?” she asked.   
“Yes. I got the supplies yesterday Revyn had the bag marked down twenty percent, and I thought you might like it. Your favorite color is blue, right?”   
“Yes, dark blue,” Nebula replied with a smile. “I like it. Thank you.”   
“Don’t mention it, Little One. You were gonna need school supplies one way or another. I thought you might like to have your own bag instead of a hand me down from your cousins.”  
“Thank you, Grandpa Galvus.”   
Bjorn and Siegfried stumbled into the kitchen from the forge, covered in sweat and ash from the fire. They both sat down at the table to eat breakfast with the family while Lilura groaned about her hangover. Dusana was talking about some Nord she worked with who lost her hand in a rather gruesome factory accident the other day, Lennox was talking about the latest news, and Arowen was fussing over the unladylike conversation.   
“However do you two girls expect to find a decent husband if you talk of such things so openly? It’s not becoming of young ladies,” Arowen said with an exasperated sigh. “And there are such nice men attending the temple. They could make good first husbands, you know?”   
Lennox uncomfortably shifted in her seat, picking at her food, “With all due respect, Grandma, I do not think that they will be interested.”   
“Nonsense, you’re both lovely girls. Smart, hardworking, intelligent, and pretty. They would be lucky to have you,” Arowen said in an encouraging tone. “Wouldn’t you like someone to take you away from all that hard work? I know the printing press isn’t an easy job.”   
“Easy, no. But I find my job enjoyable, and I am passionate about it. I do not see any reason to rush ahead in life when I am content where I am.”   
“Dusana, you must be tired of the factory, right?”   
“I’d rather cut my arm off with a butter knife than go anywhere near those Nord men you keep trying to set us up with. I’ll be single till the day I die if that’s my options,” Dusana spat bitterly. “Shit, that’d be cool though. I wonder if you can cut someone’s arm off with a butter knife?”   
Galvus laughed, “Oh, I once knew a lass who fought with a butta knife. Killed twenty people with that ol’ knife, but’en she died. She done got trampled by a unicorn, but she lived through that, but’en someone’s wife was all mad cus she done killed ‘er husband, and she smashed her head in with a kettle.”   
“Grandfather…” Arowen face palmed. Galvus smirked a little and continued to spin a yarn.   
“Nice lass when she wasn’t angry. Kinda strange, but a good travel companion. Took on three cave bears with her bare hands but was scared of mud crabs.”  
“What was she?” Dusana asked.   
Galvus thought for a moment, mumbling incoherently before replying, “Ah, yes, she was an Imperial. Long brown locks and green eyes. Also, a bit short and round. Her name was Eliza… or was it Ellen? Ellie? Something with an E. It’s been over a hundred years ago.”   
“Can I ask a question?” Nebula piped up after finishing her sandwich.   
“What is it, Little One?” Galvus asked.   
“How are we all related? Nobody told me.”   
Galvus chuckled, “Bjorn is my son’s son. Arowen is his wife. They are your grandparents, they had two children, your mom and your uncle, Siegfried. Siegfried married Lilura and they had the twins. Does that clear it up?”   
“Oh, ok. I was just curious because Grandma and Dapa both call you grandfather.”   
Arowen smiled slightly as she cleared Nebula’s plate and gathered up other dishes that needed taken care of, “When you marry into a family, they become your family. My parents have been dead for a while too.”   
“I’m sorry,” Nebula quietly said.   
“Don’t be. Mom and Dad died fighting the good fight. They were both Vigilants of Stendarr, and I followed in their footsteps until I had my own children. That’s when I retired and opened the shop,” Arowen explained. “As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that not all daedra worshippers are made equal. Many of the people in our community haven’t come to the light yet, but they aren’t dangerous the way others are. I think my service is best served here, praying and being an influential friend. Our people will find the divines again.”   
“What about Dapa’s parents?” Nebula asked.   
“Mom died one winter when I was ten, and Dad died in a construction accident when I was nineteen,” Bjorn replied. “Long before you were born. A good while before even Briony and Siegfried were born.”   
“I’m sorry.”   
The older man shook his head, “No need for apologies, Lassie. Loss is part of life. We try not to be too sad about it, just remember the good times, you know?”   
“I don’t remember my mom very much. I know what she looked like, and Dad likes to talk about her sometimes, but I can’t say I ever knew her,” Nebula explained. “Dad misses her a lot, I know.”   
“You never told us how she passed,” Bjorn said quietly. Briony had left so long ago, and they hadn’t spoke in so long it was hard to remember she was dead, not just off somewhere causing trouble. Silence hung over the table. How long had it been since anyone had seen Briony? Perhaps it was reaching two decades. Nobody had kept track. Arowen stared at the stack of dishes on the counter in reflection. She couldn’t remember what Briony had said the last time they spoke, but she remembered what she had told her.   
“If you choose to leave, don’t bother writing home. Until you come home and stop this nonsense, I have no daughter.” Arowen had told her. She couldn’t remember Briony’s reply. All she could remember was the young woman walking away from home for the last time, carrying a knapsack with whatever she had managed to pack inside. That was the last time they spoke. The last time they ever would speak.   
“Mom was assassinated. Dad said Mom wasn’t good at staying quiet when she needed to, and she angered someone important in the house. So they killed her and stole her research. Dad and I weren’t there when it happened. He said we had been in the garden, Mom was in the lab. She was still alive when he found her, but not in any way that counted. Dad tried to save her, but he said the part of her mind that made her her was already dead by the time we found her, so after a while, he stopped trying to bring her back,” Nebula explained. “I remember when Dad gave up. I was five, it had been two years of trying to revive her but failing. Dad said it was time to just let her go. She deserved to move on. We had a private funeral then had her buried in a family tomb, where Dad’s mom was buried. Mom had asked that we bury her instead of cremate her in her journal. Dad followed all of her requests to the letter, so don’t worry. Mom was respected in the end.”   
Bjorn quietly shook his head and set down his fork, “I think it’s time to get back to work. Large order for the guards is due soon. You’d do your best to finish up and get to work, Sieg.” He got up and walked out of the house in silence, which hung over the family.  
Siegfried sighed, “I don’t understand why anyone would want to kill my little sister, but I’m glad your father respected her wishes.” Siegfried then kissed Lilura, who was still grumbling about a headache, then followed Bjorn outside. Nebula looked around the room, wondering what everyone was thinking. Perhaps she was too casual about the situation? She wasn’t sure. She was sad to have never truly met her mother, but she also couldn’t say she missed her. It’s hard to miss what you never really had. How do you mourn someone you didn’t know?   
Galvus eventually broke the silence with a cough. He stood up and offered his hand to Nebula. “Come on, we need to get you to school.” 

Nebula stood at the edge of the school yard, watching her great great grandfather leave. Over the last few days in Windhelm, Galvus had become her good friend and only real source of comfort. Despite having spent most of his life outside of the province, he would still talk extensively about Morrowind. The old man had an old world charm to him and a quiet, sarcastic demeanor that Nebula had come to appreciate in contrast to Arowen’s aggressive nature. She had rarely wandered far away from the family home in the last few days, usually the farthest she would go was to the corner club across the street. It was the only place where she could get food from home, as Arowen certainly seemed to have a vendetta against spices, or flavor in general. Nebula had come to the conclusion that the bland salt rice porridge served on the boat was preferable to the slimy, green, cabbage soup Arowen insisted on serving with every dinner. She had never had cabbage before coming to Skyrim, but it didn’t take long for her to find disdain for the vile vegetable. It seemed to be the only plant in Skyrim. Cabbages. Cabbages as far as the eye can see. Maybe a few potatoes if you’re lucky.   
Nebula didn’t dare wander outside for too long, or too far from the family home. Not with the horror stories Ambarys and Dusana were always telling about the local Nords and the guards. The drunks yelling slurs in the streets at night didn’t exactly instill much confidence in the little girl either. So she didn’t feel particularly sociable or playful in the presence of several Nord children.  
The little Dunmer girl scraped the snow off of a step to the schoolhouse and sat down to watch the other children play. As far as the eye could see, there was a sea of little blonde heads, yelling, playing, squealing in delight. They all seemed unbothered by the cold, wearing thick coats and hats of fur. The boys fought each other with wooden swords and axes, yelling and cheering about the great battles they were reenacting. Meanwhile, the girls were off by the swings that hung by the large, bare tree in the schoolyard. They seemed to organize themselves in more little groups than the boys did. Nebula noticed a good few girls were dressed in fine clothes, with jewelry and fine hats. They all kept to each other, while the more plainly dressed girls congregated to each other. Nebula felt as though she should be with the finely dressed girls, the wealthy girls. After all, her father was a Telvanni wizard, her family was powerful in the great house, and in Morrowind she had the finest clothes money could buy. But alas, she sat there in plain, brown dress and hat made from the hide of some no doubt unimpressive animal. Not to mention her clonky, black boots. Nebula stared at the crowd before realizing she was the only Dunmer, no, the only elf, present. She self consciously hugged her knees and shivered from the cold, waiting eagerly for the teacher to let the children come inside for their lesson. It didn’t take long for the school day to truly begin, but for the cold little girl, it felt like an eternity of sitting on the cold steps.   
The inside of the schoolhouse was small and simple, but far warmer than Nebula had anticipated. There were several rows of little wooden tables and benches, all facing a large chalkboard and desk. By the teacher’s desk was a nice wooden stove to warm the building. By the door were several coat racks, where the children left their coats, and the wealthy girls left their boots. Under their boots, the clique were all wearing fine slippers. They all had ribbons, and other ornaments adorning them, which made Nebula more and more jealous as she watched them. Nebula hung up her coat and her hat at the appropriate hangers before looking around for any indication of where to sit. All the children had taken their seats, but she remained the only one standing. All eyes eventually migrated towards her, until the teacher caught the attention of the classroom.   
“Alright, children, settle down. We have a new student today. Her name is Nebula, she just arrived here from Morrowind. Nebula, come up here and introduce yourself.”   
Nebula looked around the room, and to the teacher in uncertainty before walking up to the front of the room with purpose. She thought back to what her father had taught her. Always walk with purpose, keep your head up, and know wherever you are, you deserve to be. She gracefully faced the room with the best calm expression she could muster before speaking, “Hello. I’m Nebula Telvanni. I am obviously from the great house, Telvanni, my family helped establish it. A few days ago, I arrived here by boat from my hometown, Sadrith Mora. I look forward to furthering my studies.”   
“I thought Morrowind exploded,” one girl spoke up.   
“What?” Nebula quirked an eyebrow.   
“Well, Red Mountain erupted some time ago and it did cause mass devastation, but the whole province didn’t explode, Isla,” the teacher corrected. “As interesting as that all is, we will cover it another time. Nebula, why don’t you go take a seat next to Ekaterina right there?”   
Nebula glanced over to the desk that the teacher had motioned to. At the desk sat a Nord girl about Nebula’s age. She had long, blonde hair that had been meticulously braided, piercing, frosty blue eyes, and a look that could freeze anyone solid on the spot if a look could have such power. She was dressed in a green dress with lace detailing and a gold necklace around her neck. Ekaterina looked as though she had received the highest of insults. Nebula tried to ignore the glare she was getting from the other girl and walked to her desk in as regal manner as possible. She was determined to show that little bitch how much better she was.   
“Of course, Kena. Thank you,” she said with a smile as she sat down and began pulling her supplies out of her school bag.   
“Um, what?” the teacher asked with a confused expression. “What did you call me?”   
“… Kena?”   
“My name is Ms. Olga.”   
“Yes, and you’re a teacher, yes?”   
“Obviously.”   
“Thus you are Kena,” Nebula said with a slightly annoyed expression.   
“You will address me politely, are we clear?”   
“Yes, Sera.”   
“What did I just say?” Olga growled in frustration.   
Nebula looked around the room and at Olga in confusion. What had she said that was so offensive? She doubted that the woman in front of her technically qualified as a kena, but she still used the term out of respect, and she had never met anyone who had taken offense to being called sera. What was she supposed to say?   
“I don’t understand, Sera. What am I saying that’s bothering you?”   
“My name is not Sera, I am Ms. Olga, or Ma’am to you.”   
“Of course your name isn’t Sera, I’m just being polite.”   
“Calling people names is not polite here.”   
“… It’s not an insult. Sera is what you call people when you’re being polite. Kenas are teachers…” Nebula fought the urge to ask the teacher how she didn’t know such basic things, but she bit her tongue and swallowed her pride. The teacher stared in confusion for a moment before sighing.   
“Just use the term Ma’am. We aren’t elves.”   
“Yes, Ser- er… Ma’am.”   
“Alright. Well, let’s begin. Open your book to page one hundred thirty.”  
The rest of the lecture turned to incoherent dribble to Nebula. She was took preoccupied with taking in her new surroundings and doodling in her notebook. She tried to pay attention, but the lesson on basic grammar and mathematics Nebula had learned years prior from her father were tedious and boring. She kept up the illusion of working, writing random things down in her notebook to look like she was good student. Not that she wasn’t. Phoenix had always praised her intellect in school, with the exception of magic. She failed to grasp the most basic concepts of any of that, but if her reader was any indication, the locals didn’t seem too interested in the arcane arts. She silently rejoiced in this, even if it would highly irritate her father. If one of those Nord children cast a spell when she couldn’t, Nebula would never overcome the shame.   
She glanced over at Ekaterina beside her, who kept shifting and scooting further to the other side of the table, further from Nebula, until she was practically about to fall off the edge of the bench. The Nord girl looked annoyed and disgusted whenever Nebula shifted or really did anything. She wondered what she had done to make such a poor impression. Nebula glanced down at the floors. It had to be those ugly boots. Ekaterina was wearing a pair of sage green slippers with a cream colored bow on the toes. They looked elegant and regal, unlike Nebula’s boring, clunky boots. Commoner shoes. Practical shoes. The Dunmer girl scrunched her face up at the thought. She should look like the other girls, with a fine robe and slippers, hair pins and a silk bag. But instead, she wore a plain, brown dress, buckled boots, and her hairpins had been confiscated. Since leaving home, she had for the first time felt like she was without. Like her life as a little princess had ended abruptly with little ceremony or warning.   
Nebula quietly sketched a star on the center of her page, thinking to the cold, lonely nights on the boat, where darkness and sickness had ruled her days. She thought to the other children in the bunks near her who died before they set foot on land, far from their families and homeland, then were tossed over the side like nothing. Weren’t funeral rights the basic right of every mortal? She solemnly stared at the star on her page and closed her eyes. Fate wasn’t always pleasant, but what’s written in the stars cannot be changed. It can’t be helped. The best anyone could do was carry on their path.   
A yank on her left ear pulled her out of her trance. Nebula turned her head around nervously to see what was going on. A Nord boy sitting behind her with longer, dirty blonde hair and brown eyes was smiling.   
“Hey, new girl.”   
“I’m trying to learn,” Nebula whispered back in an annoyed tone before getting back to her notebook. She tried to listen to what the teacher was rambling about, though it wasn’t anything she found all that fascinated. A few minutes later, she felt another tug on her ear.   
“Hey.”   
“Stop it.”   
And a few minutes later, another yank on her ear, “Hey, why are you ignoring me?”   
“Leave me alone,” Nebula spat angrily. “Stop pulling on my ear.”   
The boy frowned and leaned back on the bench for a while. Nebula sighed in relief that he seemed to have lost interest in her ears. She hadn’t been looking at the ears of the people around her until then, but in light of recent events, she began to wonder if her ears were too big. She would have to pay attention to the ears of the rest of the Dunmer. It wasn’t exactly something she had ever considered before. Maybe she was a freak with goblin ears and everyone had neglected to mention it to her.   
“Hey, gray skin,” the boy whispered as he yanked on Nebula’s ear for the fourth time in a row. Nebula spun around like a tornado and knocked the boy in the face like Ambarys had showed her.   
“I said stop pulling on my ear!” she yelled angrily. The boy stared at Nebula with a stunned expression, holding his red nose with confusion. Ekaterina leapt up from the desk with a scream.   
“Ms. Olga, it attacked Grimvar! Get it out get it out!”   
“Nebula! Up at the front, immediately!” Olga yelled.   
Nebula looked to the teacher, “He kept pulling on my ears.”   
“Hitting another student is unacceptable-“   
Before Olga could finish her sentence, Grimvar had punched Nebula in the back of the head. She turned around again and two children quickly devolved into a small tornado of poorly done kicks, punches, and tackles, while the other children watched. Most of the boys and some of the girls cheered on Grimvar, while Ekaterina had migrated to the other side of the classroom to be with her friends.   
“Don’t lose to a girl!”   
“Don’t lose to an elf!”   
Their cheers rang in her ears, as she mindlessly fought the boy before being pulled away from him by the teacher.   
“THAT’S ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU! I’M TALKING TO YOUR PARENTS!”   
“Let go of me you s’wit, my dad will have your head!” Nebula screamed in anger, struggling to get away from the teacher’s iron grip.   
Grimvar hung his head, “Please don’t tell my nanny, I won’t fight again.”   
“You two aren’t getting away with this behavior. Both of you, in the front of the class, the rest of you, outside!”   
The children all groaned and bemoaned the end of the fight before doing what they were told and shuffling out the door with their coats and hats. Nebula and Grimvar stood at the chalkboard, refusing to look at each other. Olga took out a ruler.   
“Give me your hands.”   
Grimvar groaned and held out his hands compliantly. Nebula stuffed her hands in her pockets and gave Olga a daring glare.   
“Nebula, I will not repeat myself.”   
“You don’t have to, I’m not doing it.”   
“Fine, have it your way,” Olga grumbled in irritation. She pulled back the ruler and struck Nebula in the face with it, stunning the girl. She yelled out in pain and backed away, only to get smacked with the ruler three more times, before Olga turned to Grimvar and smacked the back of his hands with the ruler. She then procured two notes and handed one to each of them. “Go outside and wait for your parents or walk home. Give your parents the note.”   
“Yes, Ma’am.” Grimvar said quietly before trudging to the door to put on his coat and hat. Nebula didn’t answer Olga, too stunned from getting struck with the ruler. She followed Grimvar absentmindedly, contemplating the day’s events. Her father had never been one to hit her for acting out of line. The worst punishment she could ever recall receiving prior was being grounded from the library or from the phonograph, or from the piano, but never hitting. Then again, Nebula rarely acted out towards her dad. They were usually on the same page and got along, and she had little to no need to rebel. Even when they were preparing to move, she hadn’t had it in her to act up. She knew it wouldn’t change things, and had preferred to just enjoy what little time she had with her dad in her homeland.  
She struggled to get her heavy coat on, then put on her hat and headed out the door after Grimvar. She stood out in the cold, looking around to see if anyone had come to walk her home. She glanced over to a Dunmer woman she hadn’t seen before and wondered if she was another family friend she hadn’t met yet, but that theory was shattered when Grimvar trudged over to her.   
“What’s the matter, child?”   
“I got in trouble…” he said solemnly before handing her the note. “The teacher wants to talk to you or Ma and Da.”   
“What did you do?” she asked, giving the boy a stern look.   
“Nothing! She hit me and I hit her back!” Grimvar exclaimed and pointed to Nebula.   
“You kept pulling on my ears, you dumb n’wah!” Nebula snapped back.   
“Well you hit me in the face!”   
“You pulled my ears!”   
The woman grabbed the little Nord boy’s wrist. “I’ve heard enough. We’re going home, I will speak with your teacher about the situation this evening.”   
“Can’t I go play?”   
“Not until this situation gets sorted out,” she said calmly. “Come on, I need to get dinner going.”   
“I can’t believe you called me that when your mom’s a Dunmer,” Nebula grumbled.   
“I’m his governess, child.” The woman said defensively before giving Nebula a bit of a glare. “Who’s child are you?”   
“My father is Phoenix Telvanni, Sera. I live with my grandparents, the Avanims, until Dad gets here.”   
“Well I look forward to speaking with them tonight,” the woman said in a slightly annoyed tone.   
Galvus walked into the school yard and looked to the woman, “Speak to us about what?”   
“Your girl hit my boy, apparently. There’s a teacher meeting tonight about it.”  
“Oh… Sorry, Idessa, please forgive her, I swear she’s not a bad kid.”   
“He pulled my ears and called me gray skin!” Nebula yelled in irritation. “And then the teacher hit me with a ruler, why am I the bad guy?!”   
“You hit me in the face!” Grimvar shouted back.   
Idessa sighed, “Come on, Grimvar, it’s time to go home. We’ll deal with this tonight. Let’s get you cleaned up.” 

Galvus took Nebula’s hand and began to lead her back home to the gray quarter. Silence hung over them as they walked slowly through the streets of Windhelm. Nebula kept her head down, too embarrassed to look at her grandfather  
After what felt like an eternity of awkward silence, Galvus spoke, “I suppose I needn’t ask how your first day of school went.”   
“He was picking on me, Ambarys said I had to defend myself, so I hit him like he showed me to.”   
“Well, Ambarys is right that you do need to defend yourself, and you should know how to hit someone if they are physically threatening you, but you misapplied the principle. I know it can be hard to deal with people who are mean to you, or judge you before they’ve spoken to you, but getting violent will only give them more of a reason to judge you harshly,” he explained.  
“Are you mad at me?” she asked quietly.   
“No, no, I’m not mad. I would have done the same when I was your age. And did for that matter. So did my sister. But we didn’t do ourselves any favors by antagonizing the locals back. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes. I want you to be able to make friends here.”   
“All the girls looked at me like I was shit on their shoes. And they were all dressed so nice. I had nice clothes. Nice shoes. I should look more like them, but I look like a peasant. The girl I had to nearly fell off the bench because she didn’t want to be near me.” Nebula started to tear up a bit. “And then that boy kept pulling on my ears and he called me a gray skin, but my skin’s not even gray, it’s blue!” She started sobbing into her hands, “What did I do to make everyone not like me?!”   
Galvus leaned down and hugged his great great granddaughter tightly. “Sometimes, people make unfair judgements.”   
“I just wanna go home, I wanna be with my dad, he was a better teacher! He never hit me, and there weren’t any stuck up n’wahs, and everything was good! I hate it here! I just wanna go home! I want my dad, I just want my dad, I-“ She sobbed into Galvus’ shoulder. “I just want things to go back to the way they were.”   
“I understand, Little One. I really do. When my family and I left Morrowind, it was terrifying and sad. I felt out of place and had a hard time making friends as well. But I learned you can make any place a home if you try. You just have to look for the good things.”   
“What’s good about this place?”  
“Lots of things, you just have to keep your mind open to them. At least think about it.”   
Nebula wiped her tears on her coat sleeve and nodded, “I… I’ll try, Grandpa. I promise.”


	4. Roll on Down

Chapter 3 – Roll on Down 

Nebula shifted uncomfortably at the desk next to Grimvar. In front of them was their teacher, Ms. Olga, and their guardians. Grimvar’s governess, Idesa Sadri, and Nebula’s grandparents were gathered in the school house after supper to discuss the fight earlier that day. Nebula spent her time picking at the ends of her hair, hoping the meeting would end soon, but every minute felt like an hour with the constant glares and angry ‘oh really?’s and ‘is that so?’s the adults would say periodically, as if an internal clock was prompting them to do so every few minutes. Grimvar didn’t seem any more comfortable with the situation, since he spent the majority of the time studying the floor, desk, and occasionally Nebula, though he didn’t dare stare at her too long, as to not risk getting punched in the nose. Nebula sighed and slumped down in the bench with a bored yawn.   
“Sit up, young lady.” Arowen hissed like a snake, prompting the little Dunmer girl to sit up straight again.   
“Is she usually this violent?” Olga asked.   
“If so, then we were not made aware of it before taking her. Her father swore she was well behaved, talked like she was some kind of saint. That’s proven to be false, however,” Arowen explained.   
Bjorn interjected, “Nebula hasn’t hit nobody up until now, and I know that’s true cause Dusana and Lennox wouldn’t have kept it to themselves if she did. She’s stubborn, and talks back a lot, but she ain’t violent. There’s gotta be more to the situation than her just decking the boy.”   
“I was watching the class, Mr. Avanim. I saw everything, your granddaughter just turned around and punch the boy.”   
“He kept pulled on my ears,” Nebula interjected.   
“He was not, quit trying to weasel your way out of taking responsibility,” Olga said with an irritated huff. “Grimvar, you’re here because you hit her after I was reprimanding her. Had you just taken your seat and let me handle it, you wouldn’t be in trouble.”   
“I know, Ma’am. I’m sorry.”   
“Remember that for next time.”   
Arowen interjected, “Oh, I can assure you, there will not be a next time. Isn’t that right, Nebula?”   
Nebula just glared at the group, “If he leaves me alone, I won’t even think about him, and we can all just go about our business.”   
“Nebula Telvanni, you will not hit anyone else again!” Arowen yelled, making Nebula jump a bit in shock. “Well, I am waiting for your answer.”  
Nebula sat there in silence, stiff as a stone. It was hard to recall many times when she had been yelled at. Phoenix very rarely raised his voice at her. If he ever did, she knew she REALLY messed up. She wondered if her dad would yell at her about this. She couldn’t imagine it. He would probably be too busy yelling at everyone except Nebula about how she had been treated earlier. Thinking about it made her miss her dad more and more, all she could do was wish he’d just show up.   
‘Dad knows magic, why don’t he just show up?’ Nebula thought to herself, but Phoenix’s words echoed in her mind.   
“Princess, magic don’t work like that. It ain’t that simple.”  
‘Well it’s called magic, so shouldn’t it just do whatever?’ she questioned internally, too far away in her thoughts to look the adults in the eyes.   
“Arowen, calm down. It might be better to talk about this when we get home…” Bjorn said calmly. “This ain’t the place for it.”   
“Well where is, Bjorn? The child’s out of control!”   
“I don’t think we should embarrass her though.”   
“She should be embarrassed! She acted like a fucking animal today!”   
Bjorn winced and nodded, “Still, Dear, let’s wait to discuss this more thoroughly at home.”   
Arowen stared at her husband for a moment before sighing and sitting back down. “I’m too tired to argue with you.”   
“Ok… I trust you will all discuss the days events with your children, and another incident won’t happen again?” Olga asked hopefully.   
“Yes, Ma’am, I can assure you this was a fluke,” Idesa said before standing up and patting Grimvar on the shoulder. “Come on, Buddy, let’s head home before the street lights dim.”   
Grimvar got up from the bench and followed the Dunmer woman out of the schoolhouse without a word. Nebula watched the pair leave, unable to shake the curiosity she felt whenever she saw them. Who controlled who? The boy acted like the woman was his mom, or at least, what Nebula had assumed you’d act like with your mom, but just that day he had yanked on her ears and called her names. Didn’t he realize the woman and she were both Dunmer? Did he call Idesa a ‘gray skin’ too? She couldn’t think of any Dunmer woman she had met that would tolerate that, even from a child they were paid to look after. What was the dynamic? Was the Nord just dense in the head?   
“Nebula, it’s time to leave,” Bjorn said sternly as he put on his coat and held out Nebula’s for her. She walked over and put on the coat with his help before leaving the schoolhouse with her grandparents. 

The same story seemed to repeat itself. Nebula would go to school, someone would inevitably provoke her, and it would end in a fight. Grimvar had kept up the habit of pulling her ears and hair during lecture, though he’d usually stop if she turned around, and a few other kids had taken to harassing her as well. She found herself getting in fights almost every day, getting punished by the teacher during school hours, and losing the fight when school wasn’t in session. More times than not, she was suspended or staying late doing chores for Olga, after getting hit with the ruler of course.   
She struggled to make friends at school. The only person who seemed interested in talking to her was Grimvar, and she wasn’t gonna give him the time of day since he kept pulling her ears. Everyone else was hostile or doing their best to ignore her. She had tried to get to know the other kids, but she was usually just mocked or ignored. Nebula had given up trying two weeks into school, and kept to herself, trying to avoid talking to people unless necessary. It usually ended in her getting in a fight, and regardless of who threw the first punch, she was always the one that ended up in trouble. She was a troubled little elf girl, after all. Why would dear little Bjorn-Jo, or Susanna-Helga hit her first? They were such good, well behaved children, after all. Nebula brought out the worst in them. Or at least, that’s what Olga kept saying to the children’s enraged parents. How dare she impede their learning by sitting at her desk and taking notes. Why wasn’t she in a factory or farm working? Nebula cringed every time she heard it. She was going to be a scholar like her dad. She would be educated beyond any of her classmates. She was determined of that, though perhaps getting through third grade was going to be enough of a challenge.   
A month had passed, but there was still no sign of Phoenix. No letters, nothing. The silence and uncertainty was debilitating. Every day after school, she would go through the Avanim’s mail. It was rarely anything of interest, bills, letters for Lennox, letters for Arowen, and more often than not, letters addressed to Galvus. He claimed to have many long distance friends, most of them residing in Cyrodil or in other regions of Skyrim, one was even in Solitude. His publishers also wrote a lot, though Nebula knew better than to ask him about the content of those letters, unless she wanted to get a long winded rant about censorship and wussy special interest groups.   
“Oi, religious skooma heads, the lot of them, Child. You can’t erase history, it was the end of the third era! The modern Thalmor wasn’t a thing! Well, it was, but they’s just a bunch of crazies and seen that way back then. It’s a period piece, way before the White Gold concordant nonsense. Do these morons really think a book about the Oblivion Crisis will start another great war?” He ranted on one occasion. On another, “I can’t bring back the dead, ain’t nobody can do that. Characters too. You think a kid, with corprus, left to die in the streets would miraculously survive and be cured? Not fucking likely, sera. Lea died. That’s it. Just because she died off page don’t mean she ain’t dead. This books is based in reality, not fairytales, and those wide eyed, delusion sons of bitches ain’t gonna make me change it. I don’t care if they pull the book, they can kiss my ass!”   
Nebula concluded from discussing books with her great great grandfather that art wasn’t always meant to be comforting. Galvus talked at length about writing. Books he published, books he was trying to publish, books he was still writing, they all came up one way or another. He was passionate about his craft, lighting up with childlike enthusiasm whenever someone took interest. Though his stories often were sad. Nebula recalled feeling particularly upset with the synopsis of the story about an Ohmes Khajiit with red eyes who passed as a Dunmer. The slave child was switched with the master’s child, who was murdered and hidden. That prospect terrified Nebula. Would someone be able to replace her that easily? Galvus insisted Nebula had missed the point of the story, but she couldn’t move past that part. But sad stories aside, she enjoyed talking about writing and books with her grandfather. The old man had a lot of stories and advice, as well as a genuine enthusiasm for the topic. Nebula found herself scribbling down the occasional poem in her journal when everyone was supposed to be asleep. Poems were just songs that needed music after all, and she had always loved music. Perhaps the point of art was to tell a story. She wondered if one day, she’d be a story teller like Galvus, or if she’d just admire the work of others. 

Nebula walked around the gray quarter, humming to herself and kicking up snow in boredom. Arowen had taken to sending her outside for in her words, “So I don’t whoop you to death for your backtalk”. She slumped down on the stairs in front of her family’s shop, unsure of what to do. What was the point in not having to do school if she couldn’t read, play with her dolls, or play music? What was there to do outside? All there was outside was snow, rocks, and a bunch of people too busy working to talk.   
“What are you doing out of school?” Suvaris asked as she walked by.   
“I’m suspended again.”   
“Well don’t you have work to do around the house?”   
“Grandma says she’s too mad at me right now.”   
The woman sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, “Between you and me, I don’t think you’re in the wrong for defending yourself. How would you like a job?”   
“A job? I have school, I can’t work full time, Sera.”   
“No, it’s not a full time job. I will give you a septim if you get my brothers their lunches. I’m the only one with a lunch break long enough to run home to get it, but it takes a while to drop it off. I really don’t trust the Argonians to be unattended for too long, so if you could save me the time, I would appreciate it,” Suvaris explained. “Does that sound like a deal?”   
“Can it be two septims?” Nebula asked with a small grin.   
“Hm, I suppose I could make it two. You have a deal. When the job is done, come see me at the docks.”   
“Where’s Faryl and Aval?”   
“Aval’s in the market place, near your school and Candlehearth Hall. Faryl is on Brandy-Mug Farm. Go out of the city, and it’s one of the farms across the river. He’ll be outside, just look for him.” Nebula quietly sat on the stairs, looking at the ground. “What’s wrong child?”   
“I haven’t left the city before.” Nebula explained. “I’m scared I’ll get lost.”   
Suvaris sighed, “Ok, you know how to get to the docks, right?”   
“It’s that big gate where you and Scouts walk in from, right?”   
“Yes, that’s the one. Go out that gate, and I’ll make sure you get to the farm and back.”   
“Oh, ok,” Nebula smiled and hopped up off of the porch step. Suvaris walked to her house and returned to Nebula with three small sacks. She gave two to Nebula and kept one for herself.   
“I will see you on the docks. Go to Aval first.”   
“Ok, I’ll see you!” Nebula said enthusiastically before taking off up the slick stone steps leading out of the gray quarter. Every time she walked up the steps, it felts as though she was ascending out of the dark, gloomy neighborhood into the light, which in itself was exciting to her. She ran, or ran as much as she could without slipping, through the city, past businesses, houses, and people going about their days. The bustle of the city followed an almost musical rhythm, with each estranged conversation, salesman’s pitch, and sound from work coming together to make melody and beat Nebula found pleasant. Things had sometimes been too quiet in her father’s tower. Peaceful, but the silence can be deafening if you have time alone with no ambience. Nebula found herself walking to the beat of the noise around her, in time with the wood cutter’s ax, and the pounding of hammer to steel from the blacksmith’s forge, until she found herself at the market square. All around her were little stalls where people pushed their wares, and shops with bright posters in their windows. Nebula found herself entranced by the little tailor shop’s window display. On a simple, wooden mannequin was a royal blue ballgown with a big silk bow in the back. The bust was adorned with a lace pattern that resembled roses growing along with dress. The sleeves had lace trim, and a silver and sapphire necklace had been added as an accent piece. The little Dunmer girl found herself staring longingly at the display, imagining herself in the dress. Even if her family had the money, and she was in their good graces, she was too young to fit in it, and would have nowhere to wear such a dress, she rationalized to herself. Still, she couldn’t help but fantasize about having a gown and a place to wear said gown.   
She sighed and kept walking past the shop, trying to keep her mind on the task at hand. Nebula scanned the area around her for her neighbor, and quickly spotted his stall. It was easy to pick out the few Dunmer in the area out of the sea of Nords. She ran up to the stall and held up the sack.   
“Suvaris told me to give you your food,” Nebula said as she pushed the bag towards Aval. He chuckled and took the bag.  
“Suspended again?”   
“Yes… But I’m useful.”   
“Well thank you,” Aval said as he opened the bag with a small, amused smile. “Is Suvaris giving you coin for this?”   
“Two coins,” Nebula replied with a toothy grin.   
“Well, here, you can have a half coin for a tip.” Aval handed the little girl a half septim, which she eagerly accepted.   
“Thank you!”   
“Thank you for helping. I don’t like leaving my stall unattended during business hours,” he explained. “Now you run along, this place is a bit hectic and I don’t want you to get trampled.”   
“Ok. See you later, Aval!” Nebula cheered and ran off away from the stall. She charged quickly out of the marketplace, narrowly avoiding getting knocked over or bumped into by the flood of people that meandered the area absent mindedly. She stumbled off, sneaking past the schoolhouse to the gate leading to the docks. 

Nebula hadn’t been on the docks since her arrival to Windhelm, nor had she had the best luck with getting a good look at them when she had been there. She had been too scared from being dragged around to really pay attention to her surroundings. The girl walked past the many barrels, racks, and crates piled up to the clouds from the many ships anchored at the docks. Everywhere she looked, there was a sailor stumbling about or an Argonian hauling cargo from place to place. Nebula hid behind a crate, wearily watching the workers and trying to spot Suvaris. She scanned the area before glancing up to the sky. Off in the distance, behind some mountains, she could see statue of Azura towering above the mountain peaks in the distance. Her outstretched hands held a crescent moon and a star, and her gaze seemed to be staring right at Nebula. The little Dunmer girl felt a wave of calming energy pass over her as she stared up at the statue from her place on the docks. Unconsciously, she stumbled out of her hiding place and towards the edge of the docks to get a better look at the statue, though even standing on the edge of the water didn’t make much of a difference. It was just too far away, yet still easily visible from the area.   
“Nebula, get back, you’ll fall in,” Suvaris said as she grabbed Nebula’s shoulder and gently pulled her away from the edge of the docks. The little girl snapped out of her trance and looked up at the woman. “What’s wrong, why are you crying? Are you hurt?”   
Nebula shook her head and smiled a little, “No, I’m happy. Azura’s here. Look.” She pointed to the statue in the distance. “I was worried she wasn’t here and wouldn’t be able to hear me anymore. Grandma doesn’t let me pray anymore, so I have to write them out in my journal. Do you think she still knows what I say?”   
“I suppose she would. The gods are powerful,” Suvaris replied, glancing up towards the mountain. “Arowen has always been obnoxious. She’s always tried to push everyone to convert from the old religion to the Imperial pantheon… Well, the old one.”   
“Why doesn’t she worship Azura, Boethiah, and Mephala?” Nebula asked. “Do you know? I’m not allowed to bring them up at the house.”   
“I don’t know. I know your grandmother was supposedly a vigilant of Stendar, but I don’t know how true that is or isn’t. It’s part of the reason your mother left for Morrowind.”   
“Dad said Mom didn’t worship the good daedra, she worshipped the old tribunal.”   
Suvaris sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, “Your mother… she would do anything to piss off her parents. And she was rebellious to the point of stupidity more times than not. So she joined a group of crazies that wanted to resurrect the tribunal and ran off the Morrowind. She left everyone and everything out of nowhere.”   
“Dad told me that Mom was with dangerous people when she came to Morrowind, and that they met when he helped her get away from them,” Nebula explained. She sat down on the docks and looked up towards the mountains, off in the east. Off towards home. “I don’t really know anything about Mom besides what Dad says. Dad doesn’t really like to talk about it a lot though. I think he misses her too much.”   
“I knew Briony, we grew up together. She wasn’t a bad person, she was just short sighted and lacked any real loyalty. She left her family and fiancé high and dry out of nowhere, and nobody heard from her for over a year. I know the Avanims didn’t want anything to do with her, but Malthyr kept contact. I don’t know why, but I suppose it worked out for the best, hm?”   
“Fiancé? Dad’s from Morrowind, he’s never been to Skyrim before.”   
“Your mother was engaged to Malthyr before she went to Morrowind, but like I said, she just started walking east one day, and that was the last any of us saw of her,” Suvaris said as she offered Nebula a hand up. “You see that farm right there? That’s where Faryl is. You can take that bridge and path right there. Be careful not to slip and fall in the water. There’s ice on the bridge, so walk slowly.”   
Nebula climbed up to her feet and started walking the path she had been pointed to. She reflect on the recent news. Was her mother the bad guy? To just leave everyone and everything behind? Nebula didn’t like Skyrim, but she couldn’t imagine leaving her dad behind forever if she were in her mother’s shoes. And nobody had mentioned her mother’s engagement. Hearing it stated so casually, so nonchalantly, made her question what she really knew about Briony. It seemed everyone she met knew her mother better than she could ever have hoped to. Perhaps better than even her dad knew her.   
The bridge was an old wooden structure that had fallen into disrepair. It connected the docks and the main entrance to the city but could be drawn into the docks to sever the connection. With each step it creaked, and a few wooden planks were broken and missing. Nebula cautiously stared at the ground with every step, feeling as though at any moment, it would simply collapse under her weight and send her plummeting into the Sea of Ghosts.   
‘Maybe that’s where it gets its name,’ she thought to herself. ‘A bunch of people died walking across the river. I wonder how many people drown here every year.’   
A plank began to crack when her foot touched it, prompting the girl to start running across the bridge full speed, her feet sliding from the ice below. She stumbled forward off the bridge and onto solid land, narrowly avoiding tripping. Nebula looked back at the deathtrap behind her for a moment before walking down the trail to Brandy-Mug farm. All along the path were bushes of wild snowberries that grew relatively untamed compared to the fields of crops from the three farms nearby. She scrunched up her face in disgust. Cabbages. So many cabbages. Slimy, green, mushy, bitter cabbage, no doubt her all grown at Arowen’s command. She looked to the fields ahead and was pleasantly surprised to see potatoes, carrots, wheat, rye, turnips, okra, tomatoes, and sweet bell peppers. She would’ve never guessed that there would be so many types of vegetables grown at the local farms. All she ever seemed to see was cabbage and the occasional potato or carrot when Arowen was feeling creative. The farms were being worked by both Nords and Dunmer, though they seemed to go about their work without ever interacting with each other. A few people Nebula recognized from the Temple of Talos, as Arowen was insistent in dragging the family there as often as possible.   
Finally, after a good few minutes of walking, she arrived at Brandy Mug Farm. It was a bit smaller than the farm she had just past, Hollyfrost, but it was still sizeable enough to provide for the city. Faryl was out tending to a bunch of strange animals that wandered around aimlessly.   
“Hey, Faryl! I got your lunch!” Nebula called from the other side of the fence. She climbed up onto the lower rungs of the fence and waved to get the Dunmer’s attention. He finished up dumping a sack of feed down for the birds that were walking around before going over to Nebula.   
“Shouldn’t you be in school?”   
“I got suspended.”  
“You spend more time suspended than not, dontcha?” he asked as he took his lunch bag from the girl and split the sandwich in half, offering one to Nebula. “You eaten?”   
“No, sera. Grandma’s real mad at me, and I ain’t gonna risk bothering her right now.”   
“Go ahead and take it, I ain’t that hungry.”  
“Thanks!” Nebula cheered and accepted the half of the sandwich. She climbed over the fence the rest of the way and stood next to Faryl while the two of them ate. “What are those?” she pointed to the birds.   
“Chickens.”  
“….Chickens?”   
“Yeah, you ain’t seen one?”   
Nebula went pale and screamed when a chicken got too close to the fence, “It’s gonna kill me!”   
“Child, it’s just a chicken, they’re harmless,” Faryl assured as he bit into his sandwich. The chicken, however had other ideas, and tried to peck at Nebula’s ankles, causing the girl to panic and start running around the farm screaming.   
“IT PECKED ME! I’M GONNA DIE!”   
“Calm down, you ain’t gonna die! Why do you think that?” Faryl grabbed Nebula before she could trample a cabbage. Nebula whimpered and hid behind him, hoping the chicken would be deterred from chasing her.   
“Dusana told me that chickens are poisonous and if they peck you, you’ll get corprus and die.”   
Faryl sighed and nudged the chicken back towards the pin(pen?) with his foot, “That ain’t how it works. Chickens are harmless, they can’t give you corprus, they ain’t poisonous, the worst they can do is poke you with their beaks. I mean, that’s irritating, but it won’t kill you.”   
“Why’d Dusana lie to me?” Nebula asked, feeling a bit betrayed.   
“She does that. That girl ain’t right, and she always been that way.”   
“Is Lennox lying to me too?”   
“No, Lennox ain’t a liar. I’ve known your cousins from the time I was a kid, and I can promise you Lennox is one of the sweetest girls you’ll ever meet. Dusana on the other hand.” Faryl shook his head. “Mm, that girl got issues.”   
Nebula stopped hiding from the chickens since they were occupied, only for a goat to sneak up behind her and headbutt her. She squealed and fell into the fence, dropping what was left of her sandwich. She quickly turned around to see who, or what pushed her, only to see an amused looking goat dive for her sandwich.   
“Hey, that ain’t yours!” Nebula yelled and dove to the ground to snatch up her lunch before the goat could, but ultimately, Nebula got pulled up to her feet by Faryl.   
“Don’t eat off the ground, you’ll get sick. The animals do their business out here.”   
“Why do all the animals hate me?” Nebula whined as she watched the goat smugly trot off with her sandwich. Faryl looked around the farm for a moment before smiling and taking Nebula’s hand.   
“I think I know one you’ll like. Come on.”   
“What is it?”  
“A cow, you seen one before?” he asked.   
“No, sera.”   
Nebula and Faryl walked across a field to the grazing area for the animals. In the field was a big, fluffy cow that was munching on some grass that remained under the snow. It had faded, auburn colored fur, was fat, and looked a bit old and tired.   
“This is Joanna. She’s a bit old, but friendly,” he explained. “You can pet her if you’d like.”   
Nebula cautiously observed the cow from a distance, content to simply watch the strange, foreign creature go about her day. Until Joanna looked over to her. The little Dunmer girl froze in place, nervously holding onto Faryl’s arm as Joanna walked over to them. She stared at the cow in fear, unsure of what it was capable of. Joanna gently nudged Nebula with her nose, much to the girl’s relief. She gently reached up and pet Joanna, before just hugging the cow tightly.   
“You like her?” Faryl asked.   
Nebula cried quietly to herself, “She so soft and warm.”   
“Are you alright?”   
“I’m just happy this one didn’t try to run me over.”   
The older Dunmer laughed, “She’s calm, don’t worry. If you’re ever out here again, feel free to come visit Joanna. She’s old and a little lonely since our other cow died.”   
“I’d like that.” Nebula replied and nuzzled her face into the cow’s fur affectionately.

Nebula held her two and half septims in her palm as she walked into Sadri’s Used Wares. She walked around the store, looking at all the different things. Perhaps they weren’t that impressive, well, for sure Nebula knew that a lot of the pawned items weren’t anything like the things she see when shopping with her dad, but everything had a shiny, awe inspiring glow to it when it was her own coin she was spending.   
“Can I help you, sera?”   
“Uncle Revyn, what can I get with these?” Nebula asked and set her coins on the counter eagerly. “I’m in the money now.”  
The old Dunmer chuckled, “I can see that. Where’d you get the money?”   
“I got a job. Suvaris paid me to bring Faryl and Aval their lunches. Oh, and I met a cow! It’s like this big, fat horse, but calmer and cuter. I really like Joanna. She didn’t attack me like the other animals. I hate chickens...”   
“Have you not had much of an opportunity to see the animals here?”   
“No, I’ve been scared to explore the city until now,” Nebula replied. “But I’m getting better. I don’t get lost a lot anymore. If I don’t know where I am, I just look for places I know, then I get home from there.”  
“You need to be careful about where you wander, and make sure that nobody follows you. If you notice that, go find someone you know, alright?”   
“Grandma says the Morag Tong isn’t here. I’ll be ok.”   
“We just don’t want you to get hurt,” Revyn explained. “Ok, so there’s not much you can get with these, but you can get a bag of coin candy.”   
“Coin candy?”   
Revyn walked out from behind the counter and over to a few bins filled with various treats. Peppermints, candied nuts, taffy, and butterscotches. “These. You can fill one of these little bags, and that’s a coin.”   
“I can have whatever candy I want?” Nebula asked, her eyes lighting up in awe. “So long as it fits in the bag and it’s only one coin?”   
“Yes, but keep the bag when you run out so you can just refill it next time, ok?”  
“Ok!” The little girl gleefully began filling a tiny sack full of a little bit of each candy. Once she stuffed in as many sweets as she could into the bag, she ran back to the counter. “Just this, please! Here’s your coin!” Nebula scooted one coin over to Revyn then put the other two in her pocket.   
Revyn smiled a little bit at the girl and nodded, “Don’t make yourself sick. Have a good day, and try to be good at school tomorrow.”   
“I will,” Nebula groaned. ‘Be good at school’ had become the adults’ favorite chant, and they never seemed to miss an opportunity to remind her that. She was beginning to get annoyed with it, but she knew everyone meant well. “I’ll try not to fight. I’m trying.”   
“I know. Is my sister’s boy giving you trouble still?” he asked.   
“Grimvar’s a pain in the ass. I don’t know why Idesa deals with him.”   
“He probably is just trying to be sweet on you, Nebula. Boys do dumb things at that age… And any age for that matter. Keep that in mind, little sera.”   
“Why would he pull my ears then?” Nebula asked, looking just as confused as she felt.   
Revyn shrugged, “When I was your age, I used to chase a few of the local girls around with slugs. Then my mom found out and nearly tore my head off. I never really pranked Idesa though, she’s a lot younger, so I had outgrown it by the time she would’ve been old enough to tease.”   
“Why would you chase someone with a slug? Slugs are gross!”   
“That’s… That’s the point. Ask your dad about it, I’m sure he did something similar,” Revyn chuckled. “At your age, little boys are just trying to get a reaction out of you. The worst thing you could do to the lad is ignore him. He’ll get bored and find someone else to annoy.”   
“Do you think that’ll work for all the kids?”  
“I don’t know about the other kids, but I know my sister wouldn’t raise a bully. Not a real one.”   
Nebula nibbled on a peppermint stick and thought about the situation, “Could you ask Idesa to tell Grimvar to stop picking on me?”   
“I’ll talk to her about it next time I see her,” he replied.   
“Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow!” Nebula waved before slipping out of the shop.   
“Bye, child.”   
Nebula walked down the stairs and made her way back towards the Avanim residence. She waved to the neighbors as she walked by but didn’t bother saying hello. That would require her to take the peppermint out of her mouth, and she was perfectly content to work on her piece of candy and avoid conversation for a little bit. She walked into the house and breathed a sigh of relief at the warm air. The girl finished her candy and took off her coat, boots, hat, and scarf. She hung them all up on the rack like Arowen liked and set her boots down at door in the mudroom before walking into the living room where Galvus was enjoying a book and a record. The phonograph was playing a recording of old folk songs from southern Morrowind. The young Dunmer girl had heard her dad sing similar songs around the house, normally while he was working in his lab and lost in his mind. She smiled a little and sang along to a familiar one as she flopped down on the couch in front of the fire.   
“Rollin’ rollin’, we gonna roll on down the river, down to the fields, down to southland. Ain’t no one gonna catch us, ain’t no one gonna stop us, roll on down the river all night long. Gonna roll on down the river to my kin, gonna roll on down to the grave, gonna roll on down to paradise in the southlands,” Nebula quietly sang to herself as she warmed her hands by the fire.   
“You know that one?” Galvus asked with an amused grin.   
“Yeah, Dad sings it sometimes. Dad’s mama wasn’t from house Telvanni, she was from house Dres. Dad said her mama and daddy had to pay his daddy to take her, cause she done got herself knocked up and was crazy.”   
“I was born into house Dres myself. Pa owned a rice plantation, but when the blight epidemic broke out, everyone was panicking. Even some of the Argonians were getting sick. We’s thoughts it was the end of the world. Pa had an Imperial friend, he tode us that we was being punished by the divines. If we converted, we’d be safe,” Galvus explained, slipping more into a broken, country dialect. It didn’t make Nebula think of a wealthy plantation owner, rather a poor worker. “My sister, Jenuli, got sick, and Pa said we had to leave her. Said her faith wadn’t strong ‘nough. My sister, Sanyari, and I, we prayed all day, and all night, we tried to drag Jenuli on the boat, but the guards stopped us, and she got left there on the docks… I just hope she realized that we loved her. That Sanyari and I loved her and we cried so much for her, even if Pa didn’t.”   
“Why would your dad leave your sister like that?”   
“He didn’t care for nobody but himself and his new whore of the year. Nearly done worked us kids to death in the cotton field when we got to Cyrodiil. Said if we picked the cotton, we’d all get rich. Ain’t none of us got rich. Sanyari had enough, she took me and we went to the city. She got a job at a tavern and took care of me until we got separated during the Oblivion Crisis.”   
“That’s awful!” Nebula exclaimed.   
“Life is good now. I made something of myself. I got me a trade, and I even got enough of an education to be a writer. Just kept reading and practicing.” Galvus explained with a small, sad smile. “People needed to hear what it was like, so I told it how it was. The good, the bad, the ugly, the funny. Life ain’t all just one thing. Even when things are all sad, and you think everythang’s gonna be awful forever, you can laugh. Suffering and levity ain’t mutually exclusive, child.”   
Nebula lied down on the couch and stared into the fire aimlessly. She closed her eyes and asked, “Do you think things will get better for me?”   
“You’re doin’ better than most, little one. You got a family that loves you, a roof, you ain’t gonna go hungry, and you got the whole neighborhood lookin’ out for you.”   
“But everyone at school hates me, and I’m always getting in trouble. And Grandma’s always mad at me,” Nebula protested. “My life ain’t too good right now.”   
“I understand that having people tease ya all the time can be hurtful, and that Arowen is hard to handle, but please try to look at the good. We all love you and we’re gonna take care of you until your dad gets here.”   
Nebula yawned and curled up under a quilt on the couch, “Yeah… I just miss my Dad is all. I hope he gets here soon.”   
“I understand.” Galvus set his book down and stumbled over to the couch. He gently pat Nebula’s shoulder and draped a second quilt over her. “Rest until dinner, it’s cold.”   
She opened her eyes and looked up at the old Dunmer, who pat her on the head before returning to his book case, humming along to the records. Old songs from the past, from home, from a time and place far, far from where they were. She closed her eyes and listened to the sweet, nostalgic music. Her mind wandered back home, to calm days with her dad in the tower, where Phoenix would hum while he worked, and the pitter patter of rain against the land was almost hypnotizing. She would give anything to wake up there again.


	5. Partners

Chapter 4 – Partners

Ekaterina’s father owned the local factory, the cannery, where a lot of the crops produced in the hold were processed. Most of the market was within the hold and Winterhold, but that some people in Dawnstar bought their canned food from Windhelm as well. The Frost-Vain family was one of the top most influential families in Windhelm, along with the Shatter-Shields and Cruel-Seas. They employed a good amount of the city in their factory, which had muscled out anyone else’s attempts to provide a similar product, meaning all the wealth from people needing to eat in the winter went to them, and they could charge whatever they wanted.   
Ekaterina had everything, and of the girls at school, she was by far the worst. She was the meanest, bitchiest, most spoiled brat to ever walk Nirn! Or at least, that’s what Nebula would tell you. Despite her horrid demeanor, she was always surrounded by friends. Perhaps they hoped some coin would trickle down to them if their noses were just the right shade of brown. Couldn’t by a shade off, no, that would be most displeasing to her highness.   
“Windhelm princesses,” Dusana spat as she munched on a sausage from a broken can she was allowed to take home from work. “You oughta break that little bitch’s nose.”   
“Dusana, they aren’t all like that...” Lennox protested. “Friga Shatter-Shield doesn’t act like that, and she’s from one of the richest non royal families in all of Skyrim.”   
“You’re just defending her because you want a piece of that ass,” Dusana argued. “She ain’t no better than the lot of ‘em. Ain’t none of them deserve the coin they got. They ain’t doin’ nothin’, it’s all of us, all the little people losing hands in the machines and catching whatever the animals are carrying. And do they care? No! Most of my coworkers ain’t even got a pot to piss in!”   
“That’s not Friga’s fault, the Shatter-Shields don’t even own the factory.”   
“Meow.”  
Lennox raised an eyebrow at her twin, “Meow?”   
“I’m sorry, it’s just, you are what you eat, ya know? Maybe if you weren’t so busy eating Friga’s pussy, you wouldn’t act so fucking stupid.”   
“Lennox, you eat cats?!” Nebula exclaimed in horror.   
“Dusana, you fucking bitch!” Lennox screamed in anger.   
Dusana burst into laughter, rolling around on her bed and slamming her hand into the wall, while holding the can of food in her other hand. “Oh, don’t be so offended, you know it’s true! You’re her bitch!”   
“Shut the fuck up, you don’t have any idea what you’re talking about!” Lennox yelled and threw a pin cushion across the room at Dusana. “Nebula, don’t repeat any of this, you hear me?”   
Nebula stared at her older cousins in confusion. She didn’t understand why anyone would eat someone else’s pet. Was it true? Was this another one of Dusana’s nonsensical pranks, or was Lennox actually breaking into people’s houses to eat their cats? She awkwardly hid behind her guar plushie.   
“O-Ok, I won’t tell anyone.”   
“Dusana is lying,” Lennox said quietly before sitting down at her vanity and beginning to brush her long, red hair. Nebula hugged her guar and doll tightly to herself as she watched her cousins. Dusana was laughing and continuing to egg Lennox on, and Lennox was doing her best to ignore her twin while styling her hair and makeup. The twins were identical, but personality wise, they couldn’t be more different. Dusana was crude, loud, and spiteful, while Lennox was quiet, kind, but no nonsense. Lennox was, in Arowen’s words, a perfect young lady who would have no trouble finding a respectable husband. Lennox was going to carry on the bloodline, and she would bring pride to the Avanims. Perhaps it was that distinction between the twins that angered Dusana, whether she would admit it or not. Nebula had a hard time reading them.   
Nebula quietly played with her two toys from Morrowind, though this was mainly just her hugging the two plush toys while humming to herself. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to keep pressing the young women for advice, it seemed to just cause them to fight.   
“So this Ekaterina girl is giving you trouble, Nebula? What is it she’s doing?” Lennox asked, breaking the silence. She rolled her hair up into a fluffy, Gibson girl updo and curled a few pieces of hair that hung in the front of her face with a small curling iron that had been warmed in the fireplace.   
“Well the first day of school, she kept scooting away from me, and would glare at me whenever I would do anything,” Nebula explained. “Now she’s making fun of the way I look, and my clothes, and she tells everyone lies about me so nobody will talk to me. I don’t know what I did wrong.”   
“Nothing, she’s just a mean person,” Lennox sighed and motioned for Nebula to come over to her. Nebula hopped out of bed and walked over to her cousin, who was holding the iron. She gently took the front parts of Nebula’s hair and curled them similar to how she had done her own. “I got bullied when I was in school too. As did Dusana. We did go all the way through eighth grade, however, and despite some concerned parents wanting us to be removed from the school. They were worried that we were a bad influence on their children.”   
“Why?”   
“The Dunmer are not well liked in Windhelm, if you haven’t noticed. The best thing you can do for yourself, and for our community as a whole, is prove the nay-sayers wrong. Act like a lady at all times, carry yourself well. Stop getting in fights, do your school work to the best of your abilities, and don’t give them an excuse to see you as lesser.”   
“I’m not doing anything wrong,” Nebula protested.   
“You’ve been getting in fights for the last month, Nebula. That’s not becoming of a young lady. When you act that way, you’re only validating those fools,” Lennox explained. “Just learn to ignore them. Don’t let them provoke you into starting anymore fights. Take responsibility for once.”   
“But the last several ones weren’t my fault, they hit me first!”   
“Stop lying, that’s not gonna help you.”   
Nebula stomped her foot, “I’m not lying!”   
“You’re acting like a toddler,” Lennox rolled her eyes and focused her attention away from Nebula and to her makeup. “The world doesn’t revolve around you here.”   
“I know it doesn’t, I’m just tired of everyone calling me a liar.”   
“Then stop lying.”   
“I’m not lying.”   
“Nebula,” Lennox groaned in irritation before sighing, “I’m not getting into this with you right now. I have to get going, I’m helping Friga set up a party.”   
Nebula worriedly stared at Lennox before crawling back into bed and taking off her slippers. “Will you be ok when you go?”  
“Of course, there’s no need to worry,” Lennox assured as she finished getting ready by putting on a red lipstick, then a feathered hat.   
“Malthyr says it’s dangerous for us to walk outside at night. He told me that there’s bad people who might hurt me if I’m out in the dark and there’s no adults around to walk with me.”   
“I am a grown up, I’ll be fine. He’s right though, a little girl shouldn’t walk around the city in the dark.”   
“You’re not that much older than me. I’m practically an adult too,” Nebula protested, crossing her arms. “I read better than all my classmates, I’ve done more advanced math, and I even got two and a half septims yesterday for working.”   
“You’ve got a long way to go, child. Don’t rush it, growing up ain’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Lennox warned before leaving the room. Nebula climbed out of bed and ran over to the window to watch Lennox walk out of the neighborhood and out of view. The little Dunmer girl stayed at the window for a few moments longer before crawling back into bed. She pulled the blankets up over her head to try to stay warm, but it didn’t help matters much. She wondered why Lennox was always leaving at odd hours, and why she demanded that the other girls be silent about it. Dusana insisted it was to be with that Friga, but Lennox denied it usually. What was there to be ashamed of? Was it wrong to visit a friend, or was something wrong. She wondered if Friga was Lennox’s friend at all. Arowen had a lot of Nord friends, but she was beginning to wonder if it was really possible to friends with the Nords. Dusana insisted it was impossible, and the children at school hated her, so surely there must be merit to that?   
She hugged her two toys close to her and closed her eyes in an attempt to block out the light from the oil lamps in the room. Dusana finished her snack and turned off the lamps before heading to sleep.   
“What a whore,” Dusana grumbled before rolling onto her side and falling asleep. 

The next morning was largely uneventful. Lennox returned just before the adults all woke up, though her walking into the room did wake up Nebula. She pretended not to notice Lennox, but she was sure that her cousin knew she was awake. The redheaded Dunmer woman sat on her bed and ran her fingers along an elegant ring she hand on her right ring finger before taking the ring off and putting it on a silver chain. She put on the makeshift necklace and tucked it under her dress before going to get ready for work.  
Dusana soon woke up as well and stumbled around like a drunk trying to find a way to get into her work clothes, like she did every morning. Lennox helped her twin get ready until Dusana was awake enough to take over herself, then she “woke up” Nebula.   
“It’s time to get ready for school,” Lennox said in a quiet, soothing voice. “I’ve laid out your clothes. Get ready and head down for breakfast.”   
Nebula crawled out of bed unenthusiastically. The cold air immediately rushed at her, making her regret leaving the warmth of her blankets, but there was little she could do about it except deal with it. She went over to her school clothes that were laid out and sighed. The dress was a homespun indigo dress. It wasn’t nearly as vibrant and fine as her old ones, but she considered it a small victory over the brown one. She put on her stockings, petty coats, and the dress before going to brush her hair. Once she was ready, she walked downstairs to the kitchen, where breakfast was being served.   
“Ah, I see you have the new dress on. Does it fit well enough?” Arowen asked as she finished setting everyone’s plates on the table. She walked over and looked Nebula over with a small smile. “You look lovely. Oh, I was able to get you something yesterday.”   
“Thank you… Why?”   
“Just because you act foolish doesn’t make you any less my granddaughter,” Arowen sighed and set her hands on Nebula’s shoulders, “Nebula, I’m trying to do right by you. I failed with your mother. The best thing I can do to atone for my failings as a mother is make sure you get raised right.”   
The Dunmer girl looked up at the aging woman before her. Arowen didn’t look her in the eye, seemingly content to fuss over the way Lilura had folded the napkins and reorganize the silverware on the table. Her grandmother was confusing. She was the ironfisted matriarch of the Avanim family, a Dunmer who acted like a Nord, and a religious zealot for a religion Nebula knew very little about. The woman was harsh and strict, yet she made an effort to try to love Nebula, and the girl knew it. It seemed to be a conflict of sensibilities that they just couldn’t move past.   
“I’m trying not to get in trouble,” Nebula said quietly.   
“You’re a lot like your mother, you just seem to wander into trouble regardless of whatever we all tell you,” Arowen hummed as she got back to gussying up the table.   
The girl sat down at her usual spot between Galvus and Lennox. She sniffed the air to try to detect what today’s breakfast would be but didn’t have to guess long. It was oatmeal and eggs, with a few sausages split up for anyone who wanted one. Oats and eggs were cheap. So were canned sausages. Nebula hadn’t eaten many sausages in Morrowind, in fact, she and her dad usually didn’t eat breakfast, and just had a larger lunch. Lunch and dinner at home was far different, and usually, the meat served was… Well, identifiable, not a bunch of random things stuffed haphazardly into a casing. Finding out what exactly sausages were wasn’t very reassuring, but she couldn’t deny that she liked the way they tasted. She especially liked bratwurst but couldn’t stand when Arowen would insist on smothering them with nasty pickled cabbage! Nebula could barely stomach regular cabbage. Soaking it in vinegar only made it all worse, not as bad as the slimy cabbage soup perhaps, but a close runner up. The sausages served at breakfast were just some generic canned ones that Dusana brought home, but she didn’t mind. They were decent tasting enough if you ignored the horror stories about people’s fingers getting incorporated in them on occasion.   
“Hm, I suppose we’re just determined to get inside of Nords one way or another,” Dusana would joke. It wasn’t particularly comforting, considering they were having to eat the same thing. 

“Now I heard that poor old Viola done lost herself another ring. That woman couldn’t hold onto something if her life depended on it, bless her heart,” Arowen shook her head as the family ate. “I’m making ham casserole and a snowberry pie for the potluck tonight. Nebula, when you get home from school, you come on to kitchen and I’ll show you how to make them. You gotta start learning to cook or you ain’t never gonna get a decent husband.”   
“I don’t want a husband, I’m just gonna live with my dad and study whatever interests me,” Nebula scoffed. “Dad says I’m not allowed to get married or have kids and all that mess. He said I could do it when I’m dead.”   
“That’s not realistic, young lady. We can’t support you forever, nor can your father. You’re gonna need to marry, and marry well. Now, I got lots of friends at temple who have suitable boys close enough to your age that would make suitable, wealthy first husbands. I’m sure we can arrange something nice, but you gotta make yourself at least semi presentable or it’s all for not,” Arowen explained.   
Galvus snorted, “Oh please, a wedding is just a funeral where you get to smell your own flowers. She don’t need to waste her time bein’ miserable.”   
“Galvus, don’t encourage her!” Arowen exclaimed.   
“Child, I’m just tryin’ to save us the hassle. Besides, you tryin’ set her up with one of them Nord boys? They ain’t gonna want nothing to do with her publicly, you’re outta your mind if you think you’ll be able to arrange that.”   
“Well she can’t marry any of the Dunmer in town, they’re all heretics, so unless a respectable Dunmer family such as ours moves in soon, we’re gonna have to find a Nord.”   
“Nebula, ain’t your daddy some rich Telvanni bigshot?” Galvus asked, pointing his spoon at the little girl.   
“Dad’s got lots of money, yeah,” Nebula replied.   
“See, she’ll be fine. She can take her time, so quit pushing it.”   
Arowen pinched the bridge of her nose, “I will not have my granddaughter waltzing around eternally single unless she’s gonna go dedicate her life to a temple. And I certainly won’t let her marry some sleezy daedra worshipper. And if any of you thought about it for more than a minute, you’d be on my side.”   
Nebula looked down at her plate in guilt, and silently hoped that Arowen would never go through her things to find her journal. Arowen wasn’t particularly easy to reason with, and Nebula worried that if she knew she was praying to Azura, she’d be out on the streets. She wondered if the rest of the family would feel the same way. The Avanims all went to the local temple together for service almost every night, but Arowen was really the only one that would obsessively talk about it. Bjorn often agreed with whatever Arowen was saying, and Galvus seemed to not particularly care about it one way or another, simply staying silent on the issue.   
“It wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen,” Galvus said in an annoyed tone. “If she’s gotta go waste her time with marriage, I’d rather her marry another Dunmer, even if he don’t worship the divines.”  
“Well that’s how it starts, Galvus! Then next thing you know, you’re a vampire werewolf abomination foolin’ with people’s dogs and sucking the blood out of little babies!”   
Galvus stared at Arowen for a moment, simply raising an eyebrow at her before shaking his head, humming a disinterested ‘mhm’ and getting back to his meal.   
“Gran, I’m pretty sure most people in the neighborhood ain’t vampires,” Dusana said in an exasperated tone. “There’s yet to be a dog diddling epidemic that I’m aware of.”   
“Yet. It’s a slippery slope, Dusana. Now finish your meal, don’t you got work? You need to honor your commitments and be on time. Here’s a clean apron,” Arowen got up and grabbed a heavy duty apron and handed it to Dusana. “Now you be careful.”   
“Don’t mouth off at the big boss, it getscha slapped,” Galvus added.   
Dusana sighed and threw on her apron, then her shoes. She gave Arowen a hug, “Tell Dad and Dapa that I love them and will be home for dinner.”   
“I will,” Arowen agreed before letting go of the young lady and letting her run off to work.   
Lennox and Nebula finished their breakfast shortly after. Before Nebula could run off to school, Arowen presented her with a royal blue ribbon.   
“You said your favorite color was blue, right?”   
“Yeah, that shade too!” Nebula’s bright red eyes lit up in excitement.   
Arowen smiled a little and tied the sides of Nebula’s hair back in the ribbon to keep her hair out of her face. Nebula relaxed in her chair while her grandmother did her hair, then hopped up once it was done. “You look lovely, Dear. Now, you be good, don’t get in any fights, alright?”   
“I won’t, I promise, Grandma.”   
“Have a good day at school.” Arowen kissed Nebula on the forehead before sending her off out the door. “Put on your hat or you’ll catch your death!”   
Nebula stumbled down the street, fumbling with her coat and hat while trying not to drop her school bag and metal lunchbox, guaranteed to keep the food as cold as ice in the frigid, Skyrim weather.  
As she walked down to school, she saw Lennox talking to a Nord woman in front of Candlehearth Hall. The Nord was a tall, blonde beauty with blue eyes and a free spirited smile. Her hair was intricately curled, she wore a tasteful amount of makeup, and was in the finest attire available in Windhelm. The Nord wore a green dress with a tightly tied corset, and a fox fur coat to keep her warm.   
“Who’s that?” Nebula asked as she walked up to the two women.   
“Oh… Nebula, this is my friend, Friga,” Lennox awkwardly motioned to the woman next to her.  
Friga simply giggled, “Oh, is this your little cousin?”   
“Yes, this is Nebula.”   
Nebula offered a handshake, “Nice to meet you, sera.”   
“It’s nice to meet you too. Lennox and I have been friends since we were little kids, so you may see me around a lot. I hope you don’t mind,” Friga said with a friendly smile. Nebula had never seen a Nord smile at her like that before. It was almost surreal. Perhaps it was foolish of her to assume that they couldn’t have such an expression, but all she had directed at her was… Well, anything but friendly. Friga mustn’t have known what happened to her cat. She doubted the woman would look as pleased if she found out.   
“I don’t mind, you seem nicer than the others,” Nebula replied with a similar smile.   
Lennox cringed, “Nebula…”   
“What? I was complimenting her…”   
Friga laughed, “Oh, Lenny, stop worrying so much, it’s fine. She’s cute, I don’t mind.”   
“You… You don’t find her a bit rude?”   
“She’s a kid, Darling. Now, I need to get to work, a business partner from High Rock is visiting Windhelm. Wish me luck!” Friga smiled and kissed Lennox’s hand before letting go of it.   
Lennox blushed and nervously uttered, “Good… Good luck, don’t forget to fold your napkin at the end of the meal. Also watch your posture.”   
“Oh, thanks, for the reminder. See you later, Dear.”   
Nebula watched the woman prance off, humming and saying hello to someone else on her way to wherever. She looked over at Lennox with a confused expression, “Does… Does she not know about what happened to the cat?”   
Lennox flinched, “Nebula, Dusana made that up. There is no cat. There never was a cat. Now never speak of it again and go to school.”   
“Do you love her?” the little girl asked. “She kissed your hand.”   
“It’s platonic, it doesn’t mean anything,” the older Dunmer girl insisted, shifted uncomfortably in her boots. “Go to school and don’t get in trouble, I’m about to be late for work.” She ran off before Nebula could reply, pulling the hood of her cloak over her head and disappearing into the usual omnipresent crowd of Windhelm.   
Nebula wandered towards the schoolhouse, watching her cousin fade away. She quietly sat down on the steps as always, watching the other children do their own thing. The boys were having a snowball fight, and the girls were mostly talking in their own little cliques, until the bell rang and the children all congregated in the classroom. She couldn’t help but reflect on Lennox and Friga’s interaction. Everything about it screamed to her that there was more that wasn’t being said, and surely Dusana wouldn’t be so stuck up over a simple friendship. Surely, if they were just friends, there would be no need to be so defensive on Lennox’s part too. But maybe Nebula was jumping to conclusions. Like Galvus said, no Nord in their right mind would want anything to do with them. 

Lecture didn’t pass nearly as quickly as Nebula hoped. She didn’t find Olga’s poor interpretation of a literary classic amusing, and the math lesson was boring, as several stupid children who couldn’t understand the most basic of concepts or seem to figure out how to read their text books, held back the entire class from being able to get to their lunches sooner. Nebula was beginning to feel that she was surrounded by idiots, but she held her tongue and tried to not have a rude look on her face. It wasn’t becoming of a young lady, after all.   
After what felt like an eternity, she was finally able to sit down and enjoy her lunch. It wasn’t anything special, or at least, it wasn’t nearly as extravagant as what her father’s chefs would give her, but she was still thankful to have something to eat. Arowen had packed her a small sandwich with rye bread, goat cheese, and a piece of tomato. In her lunchbox was also an apple and a flask of water. Nebula settled in her usual spot on the steps next to one of the city’s fire pits for warmth while she ate. She nibbled on her sandwich as she watched the people around her. She didn’t dare disturb them, but she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be the other children. What was it like to have someone to talk with at school? Would she be happier if the next morning, she woke up with light skin and blonde hair? Nebula tried to shake that thought from her head. She wasn’t ashamed to be a Dunmer; she was proud of it even. However, the thought lingered in the back of her mind. She tried to imagine what she would look like, but the mental image of herself as a Nord felt wrong, dirty and profane. She quickly shook off the thought. She wasn’t ashamed of herself. She wouldn’t let herself be. Imagining her eyes any color except red made her feel sick to her stomach.   
Nebula had nearly finished her apple when she got hit in the face with a packed snowball, causing her to drop her snack. She growled in pain and held her face, reaching around blindly for her bag to get her handkerchief, but a blonde girl grabbed her bag before she could reach it.   
“Hey, that’s not yours!” Nebula shouted, holding her right eye and reaching out towards her bag.   
The brown haired Nord girl stared awkwardly stared at Nebula for a moment before the bag was snatched out of her hands by Ekaterina.   
“Good grab, Sofie.”   
“…Thanks…”   
Nebula sighed, “I need that… My medicine is in there, I need it to breathe.”   
“You’re breathing just fine, stop being so selfish all the time,” Ekaterina began rummaging through the bag.   
“Stop that, I didn’t say you could go through my stuff!” Nebula growled and tried to grab the bag, but Ekaterina ran off.   
“Stop trying to steal my purse!” Ekaterina yelled. “The gray skin is trying to rob me! She tried to take my purse!”   
“What?! That’s my bag, you stupid n’wah! You’re the one that took it from me!”   
A girl piped up, “I saw her try to take Ekaterina’s purse.”   
“Me too,” another agreed. “That’s so wrong. Didn’t you see it, Sofie?”   
“Um…”   
“Sofie, didn’t you see the crazy bitch try to take it?” Ekaterina asked.   
“Yeah… I saw it.”   
Nebula glared at Sofie, “Have some damn self respect, you lap dog.”   
“You tried to take her bag…”   
“At least be subservient to someone with real status. Honestly,” Nebula shook her head and crossed her arms in irritation. “Ekaterina, I don’t want to hit you, but I need that medicine. Just give it back, you made your point.”   
“She just threatened me!” Ekaterina yelled, grabbing everyone’s attention once again. Nebula narrowed her eyes at the flailing drama queen before her. “The gray skin threatened to beat me up and leave me for dead after trying to steal my purse!” Ekaterina started to cry and grabbed onto one of the boy’s arms. “Vaughn, she hit me!”   
“Stop making shit up, I didn’t hit you!”   
“She hit me! I’m hurt!” Ekaterina wailed, and her friends dutifully nodded and affirmed that yes, despite nobody seeing it, Nebula did indeed hit her. Sofie had at this point retreated to the porch of the schoolhouse, staring uncomfortably at the scene.   
Nebula backed away a bit Vaughn, and two other boys that were walking towards her, but tripped over a tree root onto her back. She groaned and attempted to get back up, only to be shoved down again and kicked in the side. Nebula growled and slammed her fist into Vaughn’s leg, only to get kicked in the face by one of Vaughn’s friends.   
Ekaterina continued to wail at her friends before yelling at Sofie to go get the teacher.   
“I saw Sofie take the bag,” Grimvar piped up, running over to the group surrounding Nebula. “That’s not your bag, it’s hers.”   
“You liar! Stop defending her!” Ekaterina stomped her foot and continued to cry. “Sofie, I told you to go get Miss Olga, why are you still standing there?!” Sofie flinched then ran into the schoolhouse without a word, looking like a frightened doe staring into the eyes of a hungry archer.   
Nebula sat on the ground, wheezing and holding her head with one hand while trying to reach for her bag, but it kept getting pulled out of her reach by Ekaterina. The sound of huffing and wheezing filled the air as each time the Dunmer girl reached out and tried to get up, she got kicked back down. Her skin started to turn a sickly pale as she continued to gasp for air on the ground, holding her head to try to protect it from getting hit any more.   
“Guys, she’s actually hurt, this is going too far,” Grimvar yanked on Vaughn’s arm.   
“You an elf lover, Cruel Sea?”   
“No, I just don’t want anyone to die!” The Nord boy yelled. “She looks like she’s not breathing, you need to stop!”   
“What are you gonna do about it, milk drinker?” Vaughn laughed and shoved Grimvar back before slamming Nebula’s face into the ground. Grimvar growled and ran up behind Vaughn and punched him in the back of the head, knocking him over, counterproductively on top of Nebula, knocking the wind out of her more. Vaughn scrambled to his feet and stumbled over at Grimvar, but was too dizzy to land the lazily thrown right hook he threw out there. Grimvar snatched the bag out of Ekaterina’s arms and slid it over to Nebula before getting hit in the face by one of the other boys. Nebula fumbled with her bag, digging around for her potions, only to find two of the three she had brought with her had been broken. She desperately grabbed the one undamaged bottle and chugged the contents quickly, now mostly ignored in favor of the boys’ fight. Rolling onto her back, she stared up at the clouds above. The Dunmer girl tried her best to catch her breath as the medicine did its job. Fresh snowflakes fell onto her face as the world blurred into a gray and white, soundless void. She knew that there was yelling nearby, but it all came in muffled, as if far away or in room down the block. The boys were fighting and the children that had previously been watching her get beat up were now exuberantly watching their peers brawl. Fuzzy cheers as well as the unpleasant smell of sweat and blood filled the air until it was all interrupted by Miss Olga running outside, dropping her armful of firewood, and immediately breaking up the fight.  
Nebula closed her eyes for a moment before reopening them when she heard her name in the distance. She wanted to hear what was being said, but she couldn’t. All she could do was lie there, breathe, and observe. Miss Olga was holding Grimvar and Vaughn apart with her two arms while Ekaterina stood in front of her crying. Grimvar stopped trying to hit Vaughn and glanced down to Nebula before kneeling down next her, his arm still in Olga’s death grip.   
“Are you ok, Nebula? Nebula?”   
Nebula stared up at him for a moment before pushing herself up and throwing her arms around the boy. She wept quietly, mumbling, “Thank you.” 

During the time the children would usually go home, Olga held a meeting to talk to the guardians of everyone involved with the day’s incident. The children had been sent home immediately after the incident and Olga sent a messenger to alert everyone of the impromptu conference. It had taken about an hour for everyone to gather into schoolhouse.   
Nebula sat at her desk, scratching at her bandaged fingers quietly. Sitting next to her father, Sofie nervously fumbled with a flower in her hand, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone. Ekaterina smugly sat with her mother, who was going on a tirade about the danger Nebula posed to the other children. The Avanims, all of them, had decided to crowd in. Arowen was getting in a screaming match with Ekaterina’s mother while Bjorn calmly discussed the situation with Olga, pointing out that Nebula’s injuries were from being attacked and trying to defend herself, so she couldn’t have started the fight. Galvus sat beside Nebula, occasionally piping up to affirm or add more detail to Bjorn’s arguments. Lennox and Dusana were sitting behind Nebula, covered in ink and guts respectively from having been unexpectedly pulled from their shifts by Siegfried and Lilura at Arowen’s request.   
Grimvar was sitting on the bench in the row next to Nebula’s with his older sister and governess. The older Nord girl was about fifteen years old with strawberry blonde hair pulled up into an intricate updo that looked more complicated than it was worth. She was in a fine, blue dress that matched her eyes, had on more rings, bracelets, and necklaces than Nebula ever imagined possible, as well as several decorative hairpins. The girl wore enough jewelry to blind the entire room, making her stand out even next to Lady Frost-Vain and Ekaterina. She especially stood out next to the governess, who wore a plain, light blue dress and brown coat. Nebula found herself admiring the many pieces of jewelry on the older girl, wondering if she’d have that much to wear when she was the girl’s age. Grimvar was talking with the girl, who looked humiliated to be there. She kept grumbling and nudging Idesa, “Can we leave now? Why did I have to be here? What if someone sees me?”   
“Fjotli, do you want to get dinner with your brother and I after this or not? Because you can go on home now, but I’m not cooking tonight,” Idesa said in an exasperated tone. “It won’t kill you to sit with us while we sort this situation out.”   
“What if someone sees me?”   
Idesa quirked an eyebrow, “If you didn’t want to be seen, then perhaps a more… subtle outfit would have been in order, hm?”   
Before Fjotli could respond, the booming voice of Lady Frost-Vain rang through the schoolhouse, shaking it like an earthquake.   
“I am disgusted and appalled that my daughter was robbed in broad daylight at school, and her possessions still have not been returned! This is an outrage, why is this animal even allowed to be here?! I will be going to the jarl about this, you watch!” Lady Frost-Vain yelled.   
“You and your lying brat have no honor! My granddaughter, bless her soul, was attacked and robbed, and nothing was done about it! She said a CHILD had to intervene! She was having an asthma attack, where was the teacher?!” Arowen screamed. “Karen, I will have your fucking house, you heretic! How dare you waltz around temple like you ain’t a dirty liar, the divines see through you, and may Talos strike you down where you stand!”   
“Lady Frost-Vain, Mrs. Avanim, please calm down,” Olga pleaded.   
“Is it true that my Sofie lied to you about the bag?” A Nord guard asked in a displeased tone. He set his helmet and mace on the ground next to him. Around his neck was an amulet of Talos and a cape with Windhelm’s insignia adorned his back.   
“I’m afraid so. I do know that the bag in question does belong to Nebula, I’ve seen her carry it for the last month. I cannot confirm if Sofie did or did not take it, however,” Olga explained. The guard looked down at Sofie in disappointment.   
“Sofie, I taught you better than that…” he looked back at Olga. “My apologies, it won’t happen again.”   
“Excuse me, are you calling my daughter a liar?!” Lady Frost-Vain yelled.   
Arowen smirked and crossed her arms, “Oh, what I an unexpected twist of events? Bless your heart.”   
“My Ekaterina would never lie, that bag is definitely hers,” the wealthy woman insisted, but Olga shook her head and moved on.   
“Moving on, the boys were brawling when I got outside. That is Grimvar, Vaughn, Sven, and Oliver. I was informed that Grimvar threw the first hit. Can anyone confirm?”   
Ekaterina sobbed, laying it on thick for her mother and teacher, “He hit Vaughn in the back of the head and took my bag from me!”   
“Yeah, I hit them first, but that was because they were hitting Nebula and she was hurt. I thought she was dying.”   
“Grimvar got me my bag and my medicine.” Nebula quietly piped up. “I was having an asthma attack, and they,” she pointed to the other Nord boys, “kept kicking me, and Ekaterina was keeping my medicine out of reach after having Sofie steal my bag and give it to her. When I got my bag back, two of my medicine bottles were broken, and the one I drank from was cracked.”   
Olga massaged her temples, “And what did you do this time?”   
“I was eating my lunch. I didn’t do anything this time. I didn’t hit Ekaterina, and I only hit Vaughn back when he attacked me.”   
“Mhm…” Olga nodded before sighing. “Ok, I’m just going to suspended everyone for three days. You’re all dismissed.”   
“Excuse me, but my granddaughter didn’t do anything this time,” Bjorn spoke up.   
“I don’t believe you. This is going across the board, now leave.”  
The families grumbled among themselves before all leaving the building. Nebula ran over to Grimvar and tapped his arm.   
“Hey, I wanted to apologize for hitting you in the face,” She said. “You didn’t have to help me today, but you did. Thank you.”   
The Nord boy smiled, “Yeah… Sorry for pulling your ears. I was just trying to get your attention. Do you wanna be friends?”   
“Yeah, I could use an assistant,” Nebula grinned.   
“Assistant?”   
“Every Telvanni should have an assistant. Dad’s assistant, Ashla, helped us a lot after Mom died. Kept everything around the tower running.”  
“But assistant sounds lame…” Grimvar groaned. “How about a partner? That sounds less servant-y.”   
Nebula tapped her chin in thought, “I suppose I can promote you, but you stay in your own lane.”   
“Ok,” Grimvar agreed with a shrug. “Wanna play tomorrow?”  
“Sure! See you tomorrow,” Nebula waved to the Nord boy before being led back home by her family.


	6. Ghosts Follow

Chapter 6 

Nebula darted through the market place, giggling and narrowly evading Grimvar’s line of sight. She looked around frantically before plopping down in the snow behind Aval’s meat stand.   
“Nebula?”   
“Sh!” she loudly hushed her neighbor, giggling and holding her knees as she huddled behind the stall. The little Dunmer girl every so often peaked out from behind the stand to see where Grimvar and Aventus were. It was a cold Loredas morning in early Sun’s Dawn. The children had been playing since they crawled out of bed, mainly just having the run of the stone quarter while Idesa and Fjotli did their shopping. Since the last incident at school, Nebula had befriended Grimvar Cruel-Sea, and by extension his friend, Aventus Arentino. The three of them had been spending the last month playing at school and when school wasn’t in session. Nebula didn’t always understand the boys’ thought process, but she enjoyed their company. Plus, they were useful at times. Why should she be inconvenienced by having to investigate the shady whatever, or pick up a whatchamacallit, or fetch something, when she could simply say ‘hey, I bet y’all can’t x, y, and z’, and the boys would go do the job for her to prove that they could. She had seen her grandmother use the same trick on her grandfather and uncle, though it never worked on Galvus. Perhaps he was just too old to care about being shamed, though Nebula couldn’t imagine the old man ever being successfully guilt tripped, or young for that matter. Every time he talked about his boyhood in Morrowind and Cyrodil, Nebula couldn’t help but just imagine a shorter version of the elderly man. She wondered why some mer aged like Galvus, old at three hundred, yet her dad’s adoptive mom was pushing five hundred and looked early middle aged. Nebula was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice Grimvar sneak up from behind her and tap her on the shoulder.   
“Eeep!” she jumped and quickly turned around to see the Nord boy smiling behind her.   
“You’re it now, Nebs.”   
“Ok, how long do I count?”   
“Uh, twenty!”   
“No way, you only counted to fifteen!”   
Grimvar looked confused, “I thought I counted to twenty. I know I said twenty.”   
“You said twenty, but you skipped several numbers. It doesn’t count,” Nebula argued.   
“Idesa always lets me count that way when we play.”   
“That’s because she’s your mom and she has to let you win. I’m your employer and I expect quality work from you,” Nebula said in an exasperated tone.   
He sighed leaned against the stand, “Why do you always have to be the employer? Can’t I be the big boss sometime?”   
“My baba’s a councilor, that’s why.”  
“I don’t know what that means, but my dad owns the biggest farm in Windhelm, and my family is old nobility, so… ha!”   
Nebula frowned, “Yeah… I guess I can’t really be in charge here… yet.”   
“Are you gonna try to be a thane?”   
“What’s a thane exactly?”   
“Oh, they’re like these jarl appointed nobles. It’s a really important titles, and you get to do stuff normal people don’t.”   
Nebula tapped her chin in thought, “Hm, yes, that would be suitable until a better arrangement can be made. What would I do? Oh, yes, renovations to the library, then another library for the gray quarter, obviously a few towers, oh, and a herd of guars, eighteennineteentwenty, you’re it!” Nebula tapped Grimvar’s shoulder before springing to her feet and taking off running.   
“Hey!”   
She giggled and ran off from behind the stand, looking back behind her at her friend scrambling to his feet to chase after her. She ran through the market and to the park on the other side. Nebula looked around for a place to hide but was startled by Aventus suddenly sticking his head out from a particularly bushy pine tree.   
“Is Grimvar still it?” Aventus asked.   
“Geez, Aventus, how do you keep doing that?!” she jumped in surprise.   
The boy shrugged, “I’m just better at hide and go seek than you and Grimvar I suppose.”   
Nebula was going to argue, but knew he was right, so she just huffed, “Yeah, I know.”   
“There’s enough room in the tree for the two of us, just don’t giggle this time,” Aventus said as he pushed aside some branches so Nebula could crawl into the hiding spot.   
“I do not giggle,” Nebula argued as she crawled into the tree. Aventus just rolled his eyes and got back to perfect silence as he watched from a small gap in the needles for Grimvar. Nebula proceeded to get nervous from hiding and start giggling hysterically.   
“Nebula, stop giggling, you’re gonna give away our position.”   
“I’m trying!” Nebula whisper shouted between giggles.   
“I found you!” Grimvar shouted as he pulled the branches apart. “Oh, Ma says she’s gonna make lunch, so we’re going back to my house now.”   
Aventus and Nebula crawled out from the tree. The three children walked back to Idesa and Fjotli, who were waiting on the main road that led back to the wealthier part of the city.   
While walking back, they talked amongst themselves, and Nebula attempted to socialize with Fjotli, who ultimately got scolded by Idesa for being rude. Nebula looked around at the many old Nord manors as they walked. She had come to find the houses charming and grand in their own unique way. She still hoped that when her father arrived in the city, they would have a proper tower, but if that was impossible, she wouldn’t mind moving into one of those houses. 

Lunch was chicken and rice soup and a small salad. Idesa also let everyone have a lavender dumpling once they were done baking, which was a few minutes after lunch. Nebula found that citrus was very rare in Skyrim, so the inclusion of little canned orange slices in the salad was a pleasant surprise. It gave the bitter green and purple leaves a much needed sweetness that was usually lacking. She wondered how much it must have cost to have the citrus fruits imported. She knew it must be very pricy, considering the little can of mandarin oranges her grandma had hidden away in the pantry was guarded with the ferocity of a thousand cliff racers.   
“Oh, Darling, you’ll get some on Saturalia.” Arowen would always say after exploding about the can be disturbed. Perhaps more daunting than her explosive rage was her immediate mood change afterwards. Nebula felt more intimidated by her grandma than she did anyone else she knew personally. Even Dusana with her sadistic fantasies about pushing her boss into the machines at work, the mortician always laughing about hiding someone’s wife, and the strange homeless man yelling about the Argonians weren’t nearly as frightening as Arowen on a normal day.   
Nebula finished up her dumpling and wiped her hands off with a napkin. “Hey, do you wanna go ice skating?” she asked.   
“Oh, no, no, there’s a storm rolling in. You kids need to stay inside until it passes,” Idesa spoke up before the boys could agree to Nebula’s suggestion. “I don’t want you kids playing out in a blizzard. Find something to play around the house.”   
“Do you have any books?” Nebula asked.   
“Books are boring,” Grimvar whined. “Let’s play marbles or cards or something.”   
“We could play hide and seek,” Aventus piped up.   
Nebula shook her head, “We just played that, and we always play hide and seek.”   
“We can play soldiers, Dad got me a really good set of iron soldiers from Solitude a few months ago,” Grimvar piped up.   
“What kind of soldiers?” Nebula asked.   
“Legionaries. There’s archers, cavalry, tanks, and some regular ground troops. I also got a set of Nord army men.”   
“Do you have any building toys?” Nebula asked.   
“Yeah, why?”   
“Well maybe they’re fighting over a fort, or a tower, or a palace or something,” Nebula replied nonchalantly.   
“Oh, ok!” Grimvar’s face lit up as he hopped to his feet. Nebula and Aventus followed him up to his room. The three children sat down and began building their respective forts. Nebula attempted to make hers look like the Telvanni towers from home, but it didn’t turn out how she had planned. She ran her fingers along a wooden block, admiring the smooth texture of the wood as opposed to the texture of the wooden houses in the gray quarter. She found the use of wood in almost everything fascinated. Not that wood was a foreign concept, her father had plenty of things that used wood, but a lot of her toys were actually made of smoothed out chitin since trees were far less prevalent in Morrowind than they were in Skyrim. That was one thing she had noticed immediately. The mushrooms in Skyrim were pathetically tiny compared to the ones at home. Not to mention, the animals were completely different. Everything Nebula saw was a mammal covered in think fur, or a bird. There weren’t nearly as many anthropoids or reptiles in Skyrim. Nebula was still feeling culture shock, despite beginning to find a sense of normalcy in this new, strange land.   
She and her friends sat on the floor playing for hours. Grimvar was more focused on sending tanks at the others’ forts, while Aventus kept insisting on sending assassins, and Nebula insisted that she knew their next moves because pretty spies kissed the generals of their armies. It ultimately devolved into a war story soap opera the children dramatically voice acted until it was time for Nebula and Aventus to go home. They stayed to help Grimvar put his toys away before all going downstairs.   
Idesa was putting on her coat and hat while instructing Fjotli on finishing up dinner, though the teenage girl wasn’t really listening. Nebula sat on the floor to put on her new fur boots. They were far warmer than the other ones she had, though not nearly as sturdy. She didn’t care, they were prettier than her black boots and she would take small victories. She put on her coat and stuffed her hands in her pockets to avoid having to fight with her gloves before walking outside with the group.   
Idesa led the children through the city, making small talk with them as they trudged through the freshly fallen snow. The snow had just fallen, so it still looked pretty. Of course, a beautiful winter is more of a fantasy than reality. Snow always ends up dirty and slushy, and snowfall is only pretty when it doesn’t trap you in or outside of your home. Nebula wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck before scrunching her face down into the tightly knit wool. The cold was so intense compared to home. Sometimes, it felt like she had permanently moved into the ice cellar in the chef’s quarters of the tower. Still, she did enjoy ice skating and snowball fights with her friends, which made the cold more tolerable. She still preferred the weather at home and was waiting eagerly for summertime, when it would be warm enough to go outside without several layers of clothing and she could wear sandals again.

Aventus ran into his house after waving goodbye to Nebula and Grimvar, though Idesa waited at the door for a Nord woman to stumble towards them. The woman had long, brown hair that had been pulled back into a sloppy braid, sickly skin, and sunken, tired, blue eyes.   
“How are you feeling, Naalia?” Idesa asked quietly, keeping an eye on Nebula and Grimvar while they chattered amongst themselves.   
“Same as usual… Thank you for the food. It’s been such a help to not have to worry about cooking for Aventus and myself.”   
“You tell me if you need anything.”  
Naalia looked around before leaning closer to Idesa and whispering in a hushed tone, “I need you to promise me something. If I die, don’t let Aventus stay here in Windhelm. There’s a large orphanage in Riften, please make sure he goes there.”   
“You’re being paranoid, you will get better soon,” Idesa said in a calm, but firm tone. It was the same one she tended to use when trying to get Grimvar and Fjotli to do anything. Naalia shook her head and grabbed Idesa’s hands and peaked over the Dunmer woman’s shoulder to make sure the children were distracted before speaking.   
“Aventus’ father has been sending me letters. He can’t take him, you can’t let it happen, promise me.”   
“I… I promise… Has he really been contacting you?”   
“Yes. Aventus can never know. I won’t let that bastard take my son. Please, if nothing else, please just keep Aventus away from him,” Naalia whispered desperately. “Idesa, please, you are the only family I have besides my boy.”   
“I won’t let him take the boy, I swear… I would adopt him if I was allowed, but I can’t leave Grimvar and Fjotli…”   
“I know, I know. I hate it, but you do this one thing for me, please. Just… Protect my boy, please. Don’t let him find out, ok? Our secret, yeah?”   
“Yeah, they’ll never look each other in the eye. I swear,” Idesa whispered and traced a triangle on her chest before giving Naalia a hug and going to rangle Nebula and Grimvar out of the street, where they were playing with a stray cat. Naalia stood in the doorway, watching her friend and the children leave before shutting the door and stumbling back to the kitchen where Aventus was waiting for her. 

“Bye, Grimvar!” Nebula called out from her porch as she watched her friend and his governess quickly leave the gray quarter. She smiled and went into the warm house, quickly shrugging off her coat, scarf, and hat, then kicking off her boots in the mudroom. She walked into the living room where Galvus was napping in his rocking chair by the fire, book in hand. Arowen grabbed Nebula’s hand.   
“Sweetie, I need your help in the kitchen, come wash up and help me.”   
“Oh, ok, Grandma,” Nebula said quietly. The little girl frowned slightly, her shoulders slumping as she shuffled into the kitchen after her grandmother. She washed her hands and face then dried them off on an old towel before taking over cooking a heap of flower in a large cast iron wok. Nebula diligently picked out the bugs that had wandered into their flour supply between stirring the flour around to keep it from burning.   
“Mice and bugs have been resilient this year,” Arowen grumbled in disgust as she tossed a dead mouse out the window by its tail. “You got one neighbor that can’t keep a house, and suddenly the whole neighborhood got rats… I bet it came from the Atherons. That Suvaris couldn’t keep a house or sew a straight stitch if her life depended on it, bless her heart.”  
“I don’t like sewing either,” Nebula said quietly.   
“It’s important, Darling, you can’t get through life not knowing how to keep a household running. That’ll be your job no matter where you end up. Sewing, cooking, cleaning, hosting, that’s all a part of being a successful lady. A lady’s home says a lot about her, and you can still have a well kept house even if you’re poor,” Arowen explained. “Your father really should’ve made sure you learned such things. You are far behind girls your age.”   
“I know, I’m sorry…”   
“It’s not your fault, Dear. Just apply yourself better,” Arowen chuckled and checked on the flour. “That should be good, Dear. Pour that all in that bowl over there.” She point to a large bowl on the counter before getting back to cutting vegetables. Nebula put on oven mitts before picking up the wok and pouring the flour into the bowl. Nebula peered over Arowen’s work space to see what she was doing. The older woman was slicing tomatoes and garlic, quietly humming to herself as she worked.  
“What are we making?”   
“Well, noodles for starters. We’re having linguini and clams.”   
“Oh, that sounds good. Where’s the clams?”   
Arowen nodded towards the sink, “They’re cleaning. You wouldn’t want a mouthful of sand. I bought them today from the docks. Living on the sea has its perks, I suppose. I do miss the warmth of the Reach though.”   
“That’s… The hold way over by High Rock, right?” Nebula asked, trying to visualize the map that hung on the wall at school.   
“Correct. That’s where I grew up. Well, Da and I migrated between the Reach, Haafingar, and the Pale.”   
“Why did you move so much.” Nebula carefully peeled garlic while Arowen cut the tomatoes.   
“Da was a Vigilant of Stendarr and I traveled with him. We didn’t have a home of our own, we lived in and out of inns. Perhaps not the most pleasant way of living, but I did love the adventure,” Arowen chuckled, smiling fondly off in the distance. “I think we spent the most time in the Reach. Lots of trouble there. There’s a lot of people in need too. I used to be sweet on a Breton boy in Markarth, but we moved too much and lost touch.”   
“Where’d you learn all the lady stuff if you grew up on the road?”   
“I knew practical things, such as basic sewing, cooking, and so on. Da sent me to a finishing school in Solitude when I was fifteen where I learned most of what I know now. I graduated at nineteen, then I joined the Vigilants,” Arowen explained. “I never thought I would settle down, but when I came to Windhelm, I knew the Divines had brought me here for a reason. I met your Dapa, and I’ve been here ever since with very few exceptions.”   
“Do you miss traveling?”   
“Sometimes, but my place is here. I did enjoy wandering Skyrim, but every day was war. When you’re the first line of defense against evil, you see horrible things every day. Those things never leave you and can be stressful. I think my purpose to snuff out evil in Windhelm by less… Conventional tactics was thought out well.”   
“Evil?”   
Arowen’s face was dark as she roughly chopped an onion in half, “Daedra worship.” Nebula remained silent, a lump growing in her throat as she watched her grandmother cut the onion into large chunks. The intensity radiating off of Arowen felt as though Nebula was standing in a furnace. “Though… I learned not all heretics are made equal. The people of Windhelm… Our people.” Nebula looked up at Arowen in shock. She had never heard her grandmother refer to the Dunmer as ‘her people’, usually distancing herself when referring to Dunmer. “They are misguided, but not automatically evil. I’m here to show mercy and bring as many people to the light as possible. I do it by taking care of my community.”   
“I’ve never heard you call us your people before, Grandma,” Nebula whispered.   
“As much as it pains me to admit it, I can’t deny what I am,” Arowen said as she put the vegetables in a bowl then began making the pasta. Nebula followed her grandmother’s example in rolling out the noodles, though hers came out malformed compared to the perfect ones Arowen made effortlessly.   
Nebula looked at her gray hands covered in flour. She glanced up at her grandmother, who held herself with purpose as she rolled out the noodles. Behind the stern expression, Nebula could sense an underlying sadness. “I’m not ashamed, I wouldn’t want to be anything else,” she said confidently.  
“The daedra’s touch is so ingrained in our people it has turned our skin and eyes. It embarrasses me, but that’s life I suppose.”   
“There’s no need to be embarrassed, Grandma, I think you look nice.”   
“Thank you, Nebula.” 

Nebula stumbled up the stairs to her bedroom after Arowen released her from kitchen duties. Bjorn and Siegfried were taking their dear sweet time at the forge, so dinner was going to be later, despite the preparations being set for the usual time. She yawned and opened the door, only to be greeted with Lennox’s screaming.   
“Dusana, get it! Kill it!”   
“I’m trying, quit yelling!” Dusana yelled as she threw a flame at a mouse that scurried across the floor with such haste, he could put a cheetah to shame. The little brown mouse squeaked as he narrowly dodged Dusana’s attacks and hoofed it under Lennox’s bed. The two older girls groaned and grumbled. “Well, I can’t reach it.”   
“Excuse me, but I am not sleeping with that thing under my bed.”   
“Nebs could reach it…” Dusana suggested with a sly grin. “Hey, Nebs, you feel like some monster hunting?”   
“It’s just a mouse,” Nebula sighed in exasperation.   
“It’s a freak of nature with beady little eyes and it squeaks and ew!” Lennox shuttered. “I hate mice.”   
Nebula raised an eyebrow at her cousins before crawling under the bed to see if she could catch the mouse. She squeezed herself under the bed and began feeling around the wall, swiping away cobwebs as her eyes adjusted to the minimal lighting. Once her eyes had adjusted, she found herself staring face to face with a tiny, frightening little creature. The mouse’s chest seemed to be heavy with every breath as it stared directly into the little girl’s eyes. Nebula felt a pang of guilt as she lied on the floor, level with the defenseless creature before her. She quietly hummed as she set her hand against the wall.   
THUNK!   
Nebula jumped a little as her hand went through the wall, moving a tiny, loose piece back. She was thankful that the sound wasn’t too loud, otherwise Lennox and Dusana would tell Arowen that she broke the wall. Behind the little piece of board was a hidden hole stashed with a book and a jewelry box. Nebula stared in awe and ran her hands along the dusty items, only to be pulled out of her trance by Lennox, “Nebula, have you found it?”   
“Uh, almost, hold on,” Nebula squeaked out before closing the hole in the wall back up and turning her attention back to the mouse. She sang quietly, “I hope there’s always ghosts to watch over you, to guide you wherever you roam. To protect you and keep you safe from all harm, let’s wander on home.” She gently scooped up the mouse, which had calmed down enough to not fight being picked up. “Through the valleys, rivers, and mountains, we will follow the footsteps,” Nebula continued as she crawled back out from under the bed and stood up. “the ghosts will sing, the melody will show the way, let’s roam on home.” She opened the window and set the mouse on the flower pot outside it. The mouse looked up at Nebula before scurrying off. She giggled and waved to it before shutting the window and wiping her hands off on her dress. “It’s gone, Lennox.”   
“Thanks… It better stay outside,” Lennox shivered and wrapped her shawl around herself tighter. “I think Dad and Dapa are back. We should go down for dinner. Wash your hands. Thoroughly! Those creatures are disgusting!”   
“Yeah, I will!” Nebula called as she ran out of the room and slid down the ladder. She walked to the dining room, where Arowen and Lilura were setting food on the table. Siegfried was washing his face in the kitchen sink and Bjorn was holding a letter.   
“Nebula, just who I wanted to see,” he said with a smile. “The courier stopped by the forge today. Letter for you.”   
“Really?!” Nebula ran over and looked at the seal before squealing, “It’s Dad!” She quickly peeled the seal off with a nearby butter knife and unfolded the letter. 

Little Star,   
I know it has been a long time. I should have been here by now, and I’m sorry. There’s been a lot of hassle in getting here and trying to get into the city. I wasn’t allowed to enter when I arrived on the docks, I was turned away because of my leg and back. I tried to tell them you were here and that I had family sponsoring me, but the guards were unwilling to look at my documentation. I had to go to the next port, which was Dawnstar. From Dawnstar, I had to catch a carriage to Winterhold. I am writing you this letter from the college, where I am staying until the issue gets worked out. I have been writing to the steward directly, but I am unsure of when I will be able to join you. If it takes too long, I may take a job with the college and move us up here. I would prefer to live in a REAL city, however, I suppose beggars cannot be choosers. Baba cut us off over leaving Morrowind. We are going to have to make what money we do have stretch until we get well established. Somehow I doubt such a large city has a surplus of doctors, and even if we end up in Winterhold, I can get a job at the college and practice medicine here. These people ain’t got a pot to piss in, and I think all the wealthy migrated on west years ago. Behave for your grandparents, Buggy. I love you so much and I WILL see you soon.   
Love,   
Dad 

“What did it say?” Bjorn asked.   
Nebula clutched the letter tightly to her and dried her eyes, “They won’t let Dad into the city because of his leg… He’s in Winterhold until they let him in.”   
“His leg?”   
“A cave wall fell on Dad when he was eleven and his back and leg were damaged. Apparently dragging himself out from under it all messed up his leg worse, then he tried to heal it, but used the spell wrong, so now it’s stuck that way. He can’t walk very well and uses a cane. He used to use a wheel chair, but doesn’t anymore,” Nebula explained. “Baba helped him get to the point where he could walk with a cane.”   
“Baba is your father’s mother, right?” Bjorn asked.   
“Yes. She’s mad at us right now though. She didn’t want us to move away, but Dad thought it was too dangerous for us to stay at home.” Nebula sat down at her spot at the table and sipped her water. “I hope Baba forgives us and comes to visit sometime.”   
“Well, she’s welcome if she wants to,” Arowen hummed as she set the table. “We will try to help get your father in the city. The jarl can be strict, but he’s a reasonable man. Your father has skills that are needed, I don’t think he could turn that down. It might just take a while.”   
“You can just ask the jarl to do stuff?” Nebula asked.   
“No, no, Dear, you have to go through the steward.”  
“Who’s the steward?”   
“Jorlief. I will write him tonight about the matter,” Arowen explained. “Try not to worry about it. You will be with your father soon enough. Eat your food while it’s still hot.”   
Nebula carefully folded the letter and tucked it into her dress’ pocket before eating her dinner in silence. It felt cruel, her dad being so close yet still so far away. But he was safe. That’s what mattered, even if waiting was getting excruciating.

Later that night, when Lennox had left and Dusana was asleep, Nebula crawled back under Lennox’s bed and removed the piece of wall once more. She pulled out the book and jewelry box quietly before crawling back to her own bed. She wiped the layers of dust off of them with her sleeve and held them by the oil lamp. The jewelry box was made of smooth, dark wood and had simple flowers carved along the sides. “Briony” adorned the top of the lid and was filled in with gold, or something that look a lot like gold. Nebula ran her fingers along her mothers name hesitantly before opening the jewelry box. Her heart was racing, and her fingers trembled as she lifted the lid to the box, doing her best not to wake up her sleeping cousin. This was her mother’s. These items, this room, they were Briony’s! So much of Briony’s existence had been erased from the family home, but these things. They were hers. And they were Nebula’s now.   
Three unlabeled, purple vials lied on top of a silver and ruby ring, some paper, and several letters of credit from the bank were inside the box. Nebula carefully opened the paper, revealing them to be star charts. She folded them back up carefully and hid the box and journal at the bottom of her trunk along with her own. She looked out the window from her spot in bed and leaned her head against the wall. The snow was obscuring her view of the stars, but still she said a silent prayer for her father’s safety and her mother’s soul. She crawled back under the covers and buried her face in her pillow, quietly crying to herself as her last waking thoughts stayed on her parents. She missed her dad. She wanted to miss her mom.


End file.
